F E Prothero, Rear Commodore of the Cruising Club (a respectable body, known since 1902 as the Royal Cruising Club), described the Irish waterways in F E Prothero and W A Clark eds A New Oarsman’s Guide to the Rivers and Canals of Great Britain and Ireland: Cruising Club Manual, George Philip & Son, London 1896, and in a supplement published in 1898.
He did not himself manage to reach the lakes of Galway and Mayo, so his account is based on the guidebooks of the day. Here it is.
Irish waterways history 
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