Category Archives: Economic activities

Nineteenth-century Irish canal boats

Posted on Monday 3 January 2011 | Leave a comment

Illustrations of early Irish inland waterways vessels are relatively scarce. The drawing below shows the sterns of two of them.

Portobello Harbour 1882

This is from The Graphic of May 13, 1882, and shows the lighting of tar-barrels in Portobello Harbour, on the Grand Canal in Dublin, to celebrate the release from prison of Charles Stewart Parnell and two colleagues.

The layout of the harbour in around 1900 can be seen on the OSI Historic 25″ map. Where were the vessels tied? What are the buildings in the background? What can be said about the vessels? Presumably wooden horse-drawn barges, but they look rather narrow to me. Comments welcome.

The harbour itself is, alas, no more.

 

 

 

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Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Irish inland waterways vessels, Irish waterways general, Operations, Sources

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Ephemera 10: the pontoons at Ballina

Posted on Monday 3 January 2011 | Leave a comment

Do my eyes deceive me?

The still-unopened mooring pontoons below the bridge at Ballina (bottom of Lough Derg) seem to have sprouted an extension.

Here is what they looked like in 2009.

The upstream end of the Ballina pontoons in February 2009

Here they are in the floods of November 2009.

The upstream end of the Ballina pontoons in the floods of November 2009

And here they are in January 2011, seen from downriver.

The upstream end of the Ballina pontoons in January 2011

Well I never.

 

 

 

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Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Irish waterways general, Operations, Weather

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Ephemera 9: the flash lock at Killaloe

Posted on Sunday 2 January 2011 | 3 comments

As part of its new mooring scheme at Killaloe, Waterways Ireland has commissioned contractors (L&M Keating Ltd) to carry out various works including the installation of a lock at the upper end of the canal, beside the Phoenix boathouse and just downstream from the Pierhead. The lock is to control access to the canal; presumably the stop planks in the existing lock chamber will be removed, allowing boats to pass down under the bridge.

The lock under construction

As I understand it, this lock is to have a single pair of gates. Boats wishing to pass through will tie up temporarily and use a squawk-box (or similar technological marvel) to communicate with the bridge-keeper at Portumna, who will cause the gates to be opened and then, presumably, closed after the boat has passed through. This system will prevent the use of the canal by cads and bounders using jetskis, speedboats and other excrescences.

Stanked off and pumped out

However, the water through Killaloe Bridge has a gradient or slope, especially in flood and when Ardnacrusha power station is running. The canal above the lock will be at the higher level; the canal below the lock will be fed from the bottom end, where it rejoins the river. So is there not likely to be a difference in height at the lock? Is this the equivalent of a flash lock?

I’m sure there is an engineering answer to this; I would welcome enlightenment.

 

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Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Operations, Weather

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Ephemera 8: Tarbert

Posted on Saturday 1 January 2011 | Leave a comment

Tarbert Island

The Irish Times reports that:

AN BORD Pleanála has approved the application by Endesa Ireland, part of the Spanish energy company, to build a combined-cycle gas turbine power plant on the former ESB station at Tarbert, Co Kerry.

I presume that, when it says that “A submarine cable is to supply Moneypoint.” it means that a submarine pipe will do so: I imagine that the power station at Moneypoint is more likely to want gas than electricity from its rival across the estuary.

Tarbert is now the southern station for the ferries that cross the Shannon Estuary, but it has had a long history as an estuary port. Even before the first of the piers was built, Tarbert Roads provided a sheltered anchorage, and the estuary steamers adopted ingenious methods to get passengers and cargo from shore to steamer and vice versa.

Tarbert was also an important administrative centre and Tarbert Island (as was), which now houses piers and power station, had a Coast Guard station, a lighthouse, a signal mast and the largest of the six forts that guarded the Shannon Estuary. The ESB power station is built on the Ordnance Ground, right on top of the seven-gun battery, as you can see if you play with the Overlay feature on the Historic 6″ Ordnance Survey map.

Moneypoint had a large quarry; it may have been from there that Charles Wye Williams got the “marble” that he polished in the marble mill at Killaloe.

Saleen Pier at Ballylongford is covered here.

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Posted in Ashore, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Irish waterways general, Non-waterway, Operations, Scenery, shannon estuary, Steamers

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Up the Suir

Posted on Friday 24 December 2010 | Leave a comment

I don’t know if you remember, but a few months ago we had sunshine, and it was warm outside. Back then, at the end of May in fact, I went on the Industrial Heritage Association of Ireland‘s tour of Carrick-on-Suir, Clonmel and areas in between.

In Carrick, Ralph O’Callaghan showed us some of the sights and addressed the group in the Heritage Centre. Here are some of the things he showed us.

Ralph O'Callaghan shows a model of a yawl (a horse-drawn boat used to carry goods between Carrick and Clonmel)

This yawl is equipped for sand-dredging

Note the large rudder

The yawl

A steel shoe for one of the 30' poles used by Suir and Barrow boatmen

A hand-made net for snap-net fishing

After lunch, I was fortunate to be one of two people who got a trip in Ralph O’Callaghan’s canoe, from Kilsheelan upstream to the Anner bridge just downstream of Sir Thomas’s Bridge, which is itself downstream of Clonmel.

I have set up a small (approx 120-photo) slide show to give an idea of the conditions on the Suir at the time. The water level was low after several dry weeks, but the previous winter’s floods may have left more silt than usual. At any event, a successful passage required Ralph’s skills and his intimate knowledge of the river and its weirs. You can see some of the weirs, and the gorgeous scenery, in the show.

I am very grateful to both Ralph O’Callaghan and Fred Hamond for facilitating the boat trip and for sharing their immense knowledge of the Suir.

If you like interesting boats, you’ll like Ralph’s canoe.

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Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Irish inland waterways vessels, Irish waterways general, Non-waterway, Operations, Scenery, The fishing trade, Weather

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An update on the Suir

Posted on Thursday 23 December 2010 | Leave a comment

I have updated my page about the River Suir above Carrick. I have added photos on some locations above Clonmel (Cahir, Athassel, Golden); I have also added a new section about the infrastructure of the navigation between Carrick and Clonmel. That section has benefited greatly from the information provided by Fred Hamond on the tour he organised for the Industrial Heritage Association of Ireland earlier this year. Several of the photos taken on the tour show warm, sunny weather. They will also, I hope, help to draw attention to the delights of the Suir.

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Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Irish inland waterways vessels, Irish waterways general, Operations, Rail, Scenery, The fishing trade, Weather

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Ephemera 5: a mystery

Posted on Friday 17 December 2010 | Leave a comment

The Westmeath Independent reports on the opening of a new service block at Coosan Point:

Meanwhile, in Athlone, with a delicious irony that couldn’t have been lost on those in attendance, just as Ireland Inc was going down the toilet – the council in Westmeath was opening, yes, you guessed it, toilets!

At a low-key ribbon cutting ceremony, which suffered from unfortunate timing, and which was accompanied by more than a touch of farce, Waterways Ireland staff and Westmeath County Council management congregated on Monday last to officially open a new upgraded service block of toilets and showers at the Coosan Point amenity area.

Unfortunately the report does not say what the “touch of farce” was. Information welcome.

 

 

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Ephemera 4: John Martin’s bonus

Posted on Wednesday 15 December 2010 | 3 comments

John Martin, Chief Executive of Waterways Ireland, received a bonus of £8500 (€9628) in February 2010, as a reward for his performance in 2007.

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Posted in Economic activities, Irish waterways general, Non-waterway, Operations

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Ephemera 3: heritage and the budget

Posted on Tuesday 14 December 2010 | 2 comments

Just in from the Heritage Council:

Ireland’s Heritage Sector Decimated by Punitive Cuts

Heritage Council warns of job losses and tourism setback

Punitive cuts, announced in last Tuesday’s Budget, will decimate the heritage sector and close many small enterprises that are dependent on it. This will have detrimental effects on both our national heritage and the quality of our tourism offering, according to the Heritage Council.

The Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government’s Heritage Unit, which has responsibility for protected structures, including world heritage sites, suffered a 77% budget cut. National Parks and Wildlife, whose remit includes the protection of our natural heritage and running all our national parks, suffered a 56% cut. The Heritage Council, whose role is to protect, preserve and enhance Ireland’s national heritage, suffered a 47% cut. This is on top of a 30% cut in 2010.
Speaking about the situation, Chief Executive of the Heritage Council, Michael Starrett commented, “We are extremely concerned about the disproportionate nature of the cuts to the Heritage sector. While the heritage sector recognises that it must share the burden of the cuts required to tackle the country’s economic crisis, the cuts announced last Tuesday are completely disproportionate in comparison to other Departmental cuts. As a result, the future of heritage initiatives nationwide which have created hundreds of jobs, empowered local communities and enhanced the value of heritage as a tourism resource, are severely threatened”.

Declaration of interest: I have occasionally done work for the Heritage Council or for other bodies that received Council funding.

The interesting thing about this is that the budget for the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government as a whole is down 23.0%: 30.1% on capital and 7.3% on current. Staff numbers are down 4.6% and those in local authorities down 4.7%.

Within the department, housing is down 31%, water services down 10%, environment down 66%, waste management down 75%, local government down 31%, heritage overall down 60%, planning down 14% and other services down 22%. However, administration is up 2%.

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Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Non-waterway

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Killaloe to Limerick Docks via Ardnacrusha

Posted on Wednesday 8 December 2010 | Leave a comment

Join the ex-Grand Canal Company motor-barge 68M on its trip from Killaloe to Limerick Docks, carrying barrels of stout for Dolan’s Pub. The trip marked two occasions: Arthur’s Day, the annual Guinness marketing opportunity, and the fiftieth anniversary of the last commercial cargo on the Grand Canal and the Shannon, which was a shipment of stout to Limerick.

This page provides a slide-show of 300 photos taken from 68M on its journey. If you can’t make the trip in person, do it this way.

Note that the page takes some time to load. And, even clicking through pretty fast, the show is likely to take at least ten minutes.

Click on the first photo to bring up the controls. If you have any problems with it, leave a Comment to let me know. I haven’t done this before. I may not be able to fix any problems, but I can at least look into them.

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Posted in Ashore, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Irish inland waterways vessels, Irish waterways general, Operations, Scenery, shannon estuary, Steamers, The turf trade, Weather

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