I’ve added some extra photos of
– Waterways Ireland workboats (four photos down the bottom of the page)
– non-WI workboats (several photos in several categories)
– sailing boats (a single photo taken on Lough Ree)
– traditional boats (three photos of Nore cots).
If you don’t want to have to scroll through everything on each page, ask your browser to find “July 2008” (all pages except Traditional boats) or “June 2008” (Traditional boats).
Posted in Irish inland waterways vessels, The fishing trade
Tagged boats, Ireland, Operations, Shannon, waterways, Waterways Ireland, workboat
Some years ago there was a scheme to install a hydroelectric generating plant at Tarmonbarry weir. The scheme was abandoned, and a Waterways Ireland team recently had to get a pump across the river to drain a bunded area. Here is how they moved the pump.
The chimneys of the power station at Shannonbridge, on the river Shannon between Lough Ree to the north and Lough Derg to the south, have for many years been a landmark: visible from a long way away in both directions on the Shannon and on its tributary the Suck as well. They were demolished last week. I have put up a page of photographs as a reminder of what they looked like and to mark their passing.
Posted in Extant waterways, Irish waterways general, Scenery, The turf trade
Tagged Bord na Mona, chimney, Ireland, narrow-gauge, peat, power station, railway, Shannon, Shannonbridge, Suck, turf
Thanks to GW, one of the boats on the wooden boats page already photographed has been identified as Scallywag. I’ve also added, at the bottom of the page, fourteen photos of seven new wooden boats. Several of them are unnamed or unidentified, so if you recognise any of them please leave a comment at the bottom of the page.
This new page has a series of photographs showing the operation of the sluices on the weir beside Tarmonbarry Lock on the River Shannon. The process involves a mysterious machine and two disappearances ….
Posted in Extant waterways, Irish waterways general, Operations
Tagged Ireland, lock, Operations, Shannon, waterways, Waterways Ireland
We were at Dromod when a Carrickcraft hire cruiser went aground outside the harbour in poor weather. I was impressed by how quickly Carrickcraft got a rescue crew to the scene and how efficiently they got the boat off and into safety before a depression of 988 arrived. Here are photos of the rescue.
The Electricity Supply Board (ESB) operates the lock that takes boats through the hydroelectric power station at Ardnacrusha, on the lower reaches of the River Shannon. The lock is, in Irish waterways terminology, a double: a staircase pair, which counts as one lock, with a combined drop in the two chambers of about 100 feet. It’s not the deepest lock in Europe by any means (although it is by far the deepest in These Islands: five times the depth of Tuel Lane) but it is relatively small, a fact that enhances the impressions created by a passage through the lock. I’ve put up a page of photos and information about the lock here.
Posted in Extant waterways, Irish waterways general, Operations
Tagged boats, Ireland, Limerick, lock, Operations, Shannon, waterways
Just back from a fortnight on the Shannon, reaching as far north as Dromod. We took over 1000 photos, and as soon as I get them sorted I’ll have additions to various existing topics as well as material for several new ones.
Irish waterways history 