Derek Pullem
Donor
Now Ireland does not have many trees.
In the past Ireland was a Major source of OAK for ships of the Royal Navy.
*snip*
Only for a very short time. And if Ireland had had a major shipbuilding tradition and became a more powerful nation such as Portugal those trees are going to disappear even faster, either as ships, fuel or charcoal. All the English were doing was pillaging the only remaining source of timber they had, after which they increasingly relied on the Baltic trade.
Even if a seafaring Ireland did take off it is unlikely that they could compete with the English for the Baltic trade and hence they will need to be established in North America by 1600-1700