In the last century, the island was home to a shipbuilding industry located at the Dock, a harbour in the townland of Farranacoush. Sherkin trading vessels plied the coastal waters of Ireland and travelled far afield up to the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. The fishing industry was boosted by the fact that boats were available here, whereas in England and other places they had been pressed into war service and few enough remained to form fishing fleets.

It was also the site of a ‘ropewalk’ when rope was made in Sherkin to supply the fishing industry and anyone else who had use for it. The rope had to be stretched between two points for a period of time to straighten it - thus the term ‘ropewalk’. Later, the family who did this were removed from their land in the Dock and they settled in Drolain where they again took up rope making. They used a stretch of road from just past the Silver Strand to where the road ends, near the gate to the Marine Station.

Nowadays, the dock is a quiet place where it is difficult to imagine the intense activity of former years. Some mussel barrels lay stacked on the jetty, reminders of that quite recent method by which some islanders currently wrest a living from the sea. Because of its convenience to Turk Head landing stage on the mainland, some local fishermen keep their boats moored here. It is always possible to reach the mainland by this route and occasionally the ferry docks here when very severe weather makes the Abbey pier inaccessible.