This page has a photo of a barge with a mysterious device on its back end. Can you help to identify the device and say what it’s for?
Many thanks to all who replied, and especially to Balliol for naming the beast and to Pete for finding similar devices elsewhere. I was looking for a replacement outboard for my inflatable dinghy, but I don’t think I’ll buy one of them.
Posted in Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations
Because L T C Rolt took a trip on the West Clare Railway at the end of his Irish waterways trip, I felt justified in putting up a page about the project. I have now been back to Moyasta Junction, where the restored 117-year-old Slieve Callan steam locomotive is now running on a small length of track. I took many, many photos of the loco (inside the cab and outside, moving and at rest), the carriages and other items of interest; you can see them here.
Just east of the Bulmers factory in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, the Anner runs southwards to its confluence with the River Suir. A short distance north of the N24 (the road to Waterford), a canal separates off from the river and runs down the far side of a field, passing under the N24 a short distance to the east of the Anner. The bridge under which it passed is (or was, on the 1904 Ordnance Survey map) called Canal Bridge, which is the only information I have to suggest that this watercourse was thought of as a canal. I have a few photos of it here.
Posted in Forgotten navigations, Irish waterways general
Tagged Anner, bridge, canal, Clonmel, Ireland, lost, Suir, waterways
I have just put up a page about the Upper Suir navigation, from Clonmel downstream to Carrick-on-Suir. This was an extraordinarily difficult navigation, with a fall of 57′ in about twelve miles — and not a single lock of any kind. There were shallows, rapids and floods: the level of the Suir could change very quickly in response to rainfall, and the currents, bad enough at the best of times, could rapidly become extremely dangerous. It is not surprising, therefore, that the worst accident in Irish inland waterways history was the drowning of over 100 people, most of them women and children, who were travelling downstream from Clonmel to Carrick.
And this navigation was worked entirely by horse power, with up to fifteen horses employed at times to haul the boats upstream.
This account includes extracts from poems and links to old photos, as well as many, many photos of major sections of the navigation. There is also a diversion to cover the millstreams and weirs of Clonmel and there are opinions from the authors of early guidebooks for oarsmen and canoeists. However, there are undoubtedly errors and omissions, and I welcome Comments that might help to improve this account.
Posted in Forgotten navigations, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, Scenery
Tagged boats, canal, Ireland, lost, Suir, vessels, waterways
Irish waterways history