Hi All, I am trying to find out if Ireland had apprenticeships for Mariners like England had. I have Mathew POWER who was born in Waterford,Ireland in about 1787. I found him as a Mate on ths ship HIRAM in 1808 - 1810. Therefore I should imagine he had to do an apprenticeship to get to the Mariners status. I understand that (at least in the case of England) apprentices were written into the Parish Books and controlled through them and the Master of the ship the apprentice sailed on. Thank you for any assistance you can give me in finding this information. Hooray, Warren in Ballarat, Australia (ex Kiwi).