Text of aD in Limerick Leader seen on 5 April 2012
Conservation of Silver Eels on the River Shannon
Expressions of interest are invited from all interested parties to assess eligibility for a competitive tender process to award Silver Eel Operations contract on the River Shannon at ESB Eel Weir Killaloe, Co Clare.
To be eligible for consideration interested parties must have:
- the appropriate eel fishing experience ;
- knowledge of the River Shannon and Killaloe region as applicable;
- suitable certified equipment;
- appropriate insurances;
- tax certificates, if appropriate;
- Training records
- other documentation as may be deemed necessary by ESB.
To register your interest, please contact:
ESB Fisheries Conservation,
Ardnacrusha Generating Station,
Limerick, Co.Clare
before 16.00hrs on Friday 13th April 2012.
Phone: 061 350598/350538; Fax 061 344560
Email: tom.obrien1@esb.ie
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More on the eel fishery here.
Irish waterways history 
An old photo in the Co Clare archive shows the weir used to catch the Eels, this wooden pier was about 3ft wide at most, but running along it was a little tramway or should i say it looks like a tramway. Have i got it right, did it have a tramway and if so what role did it play and how long was this wooden pier here. Cheers, Andrew Waldron.
Do you mean the weir shown in this photo? (I’ve used a TinyURL there, so I hope it works.) That I think was the Killaloe flood regulation sluices, which the Board of Works began building in 1880 (under an Act of 1874). The weir and sluices were removed between 1930 and 1932 as they were felt to be obstructing the flow of water to Ardnacrusha.
The sluices at Tarmonbarry (I have emailed a photo to you, showing a wheeled sluice-gate-lifting machine), Meelick/Keelogue, Athlone and Rooskey were built at the same time. I have no plans or drawings, but it seems to me to be quite likely that, if one set had a tramway, the rest would too, especially as Killaloe was one of the larger weirs. I have a photo of Athlone weir on which I can see a wheeled object. My photos of Meelick weir don’t show one, but there is a sort of shed at the end of the weir that might contain something. I have no photo of Keelogue or Rooskey.
bjg
I should have included Jamestown, of which I was sure I had a photo, but I can’t find it. All of these are the sites of locks on the Shannon. bjg