This site is about some of the more interesting aspects of the history of Irish inland waterways. One major theme is lost, forgotten or abandoned inland navigations, and you will see a list of pages on that topic on the right-hand side. However, other topics are covered too, including scenery, boats and aspects of waterways operations. I use this blog section of the site to call attention to new or amended pages and topics. If you subscribe to the RSS feed, you will be told when new material has been added (but you will have to visit the site to see that material).
Categories: Extant waterways · Forgotten navigations · Irish inland waterways vessels · Irish waterways general · Operations
Tagged: Ireland, waterways
Tim Boddington has very kindly sent me some photos taken when the lock was being restored. Amazingly, it wasn’t raining at the time. Many thanks to Tim; I’ve added some of his photos to the Tralee page.
Categories: Extant waterways · Forgotten navigations · Irish waterways general · Operations · Scenery · Weather
Tagged: Ireland, waterways, canal, boats, lock, Tralee, ship canal, Blennerville
Tralee Ship Canal, about 2 km long, links the town of Tralee, in County Kerry, to the sea. It might be the most westerly canal in Europe (query Belmullet).
The canal was restored recently, courtesy of the taxpayer, but seems to be little used. It has a sea lock (but no other locks) and a swivel bridge. Here are some photos taken on a very wet and windy day.
Categories: Extant waterways · Forgotten navigations · Industrial heritage · Irish waterways general · Scenery · Weather
Tagged: Ireland, canal, boats, basin, lock, bridge, Tralee, ship canal, Kerry, hydraulics, swivel bridge, swing bridge
The wooden jetties at Derg Marina, Ballina, above Killaloe Bridge at the bottom of Lough Derg, suffered severe damage in the floods.
Categories: Extant waterways · Industrial heritage · Irish inland waterways vessels · Irish waterways general · Operations · Water sports activities · Weather
Tagged: Ballina, boats, canal, Coast Guard, Derg Line, Derg maarina, ESB, floods, flow, Ireland, Ireland Line, jetties, jetty, Killaloe, Lough Derg, Operations, pontoon, Shannon, water level, waterways, Waterways Ireland
A few photos of Plassey, Coolbawn Quay (Lough Derg) and Castleconnell, the last lot showing lower water-levels.
Categories: Extant waterways · Forgotten navigations · Industrial heritage · Irish inland waterways vessels · Irish waterways general · Non-waterway · Operations · Scenery · Weather
Tagged: boats, bridge, canal, Castleconnell, Coolbawn Quay, ESB, ferry, floods, flow, Ireland, Limerick, Lough Derg, Operations, Plassey, Shannon, vessels, water level, waterways
This site had huge numbers of visitors during the floods of late November and early December 2009. I think that is because people wanted three things, which could not be found on any single site:
- an understanding of the water-level management system on the lower Shannon
- accurate and detailed information on what was happening: what areas were flooded, what roads were blocked etc
- predictions of what would happen next.
I think that the Powers That Be were reasonably good at the third of those, albeit not on a single site, but that (at least if my own experience is anything to go by) they were poor on the second and useless on the first.
On this page, I set out what I think I know about the floods, bringing together information from several sources but acknowledging that there are several gaps. I think we need to fill those gaps, and I would welcome information or photos from anyone who can help.
The page has no photos, nor does it have the latest information: it is a review of the story so far. But it would be nice to know more.
Categories: Extant waterways · Forgotten navigations · Industrial heritage · Irish waterways general · Operations · Scenery · Weather
Tagged: Ardnacrusha, Athlunkard, bridge, canal, Castleconnell, Corbally, discharge, ESB, ferry, floods, flow, Ireland, Killaloe, level, Limerick, lock, Lough Derg, Montpelier, O'Briensbridge, Operations, Parteen Villa Weir, Plassey, Shannon, Shannon Banks, water level, water supply, waterways, Waterways Ireland, weir, Westbury
One beneficial aspect of the floods is that there is lots of water for kayakists. Here are some pics taken at Curragour, on the Shannon in Limerick city, on 28 November 2009.
Categories: Extant waterways · Forgotten navigations · Industrial heritage · Irish inland waterways vessels · Irish waterways general · Operations · Scenery · Water sports activities · Weather
Tagged: boats, bridge, Curraghgour, Curraghgower, Curragour, ESB, falls, floods, Ireland, kayak, Limerick, Shannon, University of Limerick, vessels, water, water level, waterways, waves
Here are some photos taken along the banks of the Shannon in Limerick at low tide on the morning of Saturday 28 November 2009. They show Sarsfield Lock, the weir, the Custom House moorings, Curraghgour Boat Club, King John’s Castle, St Mary’s Cathedral, the Courthouse, Mathew Bridge, the Abbey River and the entrance to the canal harbour.
Categories: Extant waterways · Forgotten navigations · Industrial heritage · Irish inland waterways vessels · Irish waterways general · Operations · Scenery · Weather
Tagged: Abbey River, boats, bridge, canal, canal harbour, Clarion Hotel, Courthouse, Curraghgower Boat Club, Curragour falls, ESB, ferry, floods, Ireland, King John's Castle, Limerick, lock, Mathew Bridge, Operations, pontoon, Sarsfield, Shannon, St Mary's Cathedral, Sylvester O'Halloran bridge, vessels, water level, waterways, Waterways Ireland, weir
Here are photos showing the effects of the flooding in the village of Castleconnell.
Note that, despite what RTE radio and the AA have been saying, you can get to the Castle Oaks House Hotel, and to Stradbally and Stradbally North, along the “back road” from the N7 near Finnegan’s Roundabout. The AA and RTE have been saying that the only way in to Castleconnell is from Daly’s Cross but that is misleading: the road is blocked at the bottom of Chapel Hill, at the Ferry carpark. So you can’t get to Stradbally or the Castle Oaks from Daly’s Cross and you can’t get to the centre of the village from the Stradbally side.
The side-roads from the N7 to the back road near Herbert’s pub and via Belmont hill and road are both flooded.
The R525 from Daly’s Cross to Montpelier and O’Briensbridge is blocked by flooding under the railway bridge. However, the R466 from Birdhill to Montpelier and O’Briensbridge is open.
Please do not drive through flood waters if there are houses or other buildings nearby: your wash drives water against walls and doors that are, in some cases, mere inches above the water level. And it’s even worse if the water is contaminated with sewage, as it may be here.
Categories: Industrial heritage · Irish waterways general · Non-waterway · Operations · Scenery · Weather
Tagged: Belmont, carpark, Castleconnell, Charcos, Daly's Cross, ESB, ferry, Finnegans, floods, Ireland, Limerick, Montpelier, N7, O'Briensbridge, Operations, R466, R525, Shannon, Stradbally. Herberts, Supervalu, water level, World's End
Here are some photos of the riverside walk from the Castle Oaks House Hotel to the Ferry carpark.
Note that, despite what RTE radio and the AA have been saying, you can get to the Castle Oaks House Hotel, and to Stradbally and Stradbally North, along the “back road” from the N7 near Finnegan’s Roundabout. The AA and RTE have been saying that the only way in to Castleconnell is from Daly’s Cross but that is misleading: the road is blocked at the bottom of Chapel Hill, at the Ferry carpark. So you can’t get to Stradbally or the Castle Oaks from Daly’s Cross and you can’t get to the centre of the village from the Stradbally side.
The side-roads from the N7 to the back road near Herbert’s pub and via Belmont hill and road are both flooded.
The R525 from Daly’s Cross to Montpelier and O’Briensbridge is blocked by flooding under the railway bridge. However, the R466 from Birdhill to Montpelier and O’Briensbridge is open.
Categories: Irish waterways general · Non-waterway · Operations · Weather
Tagged: AA, back road, Belmont, Birdhill, bridge, Castle Oaks, Castleconnell, Chapel Hill, Daly's Cross, ESB, ferry, Finnegans, floods, Herberts, Ireland, Limerick, Montpelier, N7, O'Briensbridge, Operations, Parteen Villa Weir, R266, R525, railway, Shannon, water level, water supply, waterways
Some pics from Parteen Villa Weir, O’Briensbridge, Montpelier, Castleconnell, Annacotty and Plassey here.
Categories: Extant waterways · Forgotten navigations · Industrial heritage · Irish waterways general · Non-waterway · Operations · Weather
Tagged: Annacotty, Annaghbeg, arch, Black Bridge, bridge, canal, capstan, Castleconnell, cottage, ESB, flooded area, floods, footbridge, horse bridge, Ireland, Killaloe, Limerick, lock, lost, Montpelier, O'Briensbridge, Operations, Parteen, Parteen Villa Weir, Parteen Weir, Plassey, playground, quay, sandbag, Shannon, swan, truck, walk, water level, water supply, waterways, Waterways Ireland, weir, Yeats
