Waterways in Dublin

The Grand Canal, from Portobello downstream, winds through some of the leafier parts of Dublin, and there has been a determined attemp to tart up the Grand Canal Dock by the Liffey. The Royal’s junction with the Liffey is being tarted up too, or was before the credit ran out. The rest of the Royal gets less attention, perhaps because the north side is unfashionable, perhaps because the canal is harder to see.

Even harder to see are the abandoned and filled in lines of both the Royal and the Grand. This section of the website started as a way of showing what remained of those old lines and to encourage people to go and have a look for themselves.

The latest addition is a suggested one-day walk, taking in part of the extant Royal, the two abandoned lines and (in between) the Liffey at Victoria Quay, where the Guinness barges were loaded. Along the way there are suggestions for rest (mostly involving beer) and for other sources of entertainment. Obviously you can look at any of these pages individually, but if you want a day out here is the suggested order.

Royal Canal: Connolly Station to Royal Lock 1 to Lock 5 (and a possible diversion to Glasnevin): Visit Dublin. Walk canals. Drink beer. That page provides a link to …

Royal Canal: The Broadstone Line which takes you to Constitution Hill and links to …

Liffey: Between the waters, which takes you on to the Grand Canal via the Liffey (and some other places). The walking route skips …

Grand Canal: The abandoned Main Line 1. This page starts to the west of the city and takes you along the abandoned Main Line to the bottom of the Grand Canal Harbour. It therefore does not form part of the connected walk, but you can read it for its own sake (or as part of a Grand walk). It includes some photos taken inside the Guinness Storehouse. The walking route links directly to …

Grand Canal: The abandoned Main Line 2 which, with the next two pages, takes you around the (filled in) Grand Canal Harbour. So this page links to …

Grand Canal:  The abandoned Main Line 3 which links to …

Grand Canal: The abandoned Main Line 4 which suggests that you visit the Guinness Storehouse to round off your walk.

For updates on what is happening to the waterways in Dublin, look at IWAI Dublin Branch, which keeps an eye on things and is working to restore one of the graving docks at Grand Canal Dock, Ringsend.