After a recent visit to Lowtown, the junction between the Barrow Line and Main Line of the Grand Canal, I’ve set up a new page of photos of wooden boats at Lowtown. There are some interesting boats there, and several conversions of varying degrees of elegance. There are also some sunken boats. And there is an Artwork.
In most cases I was unable to name the boats; I would welcome information on their names of any aspect of their histories (you can leave a Comment at the bottom of the page).
Posted in Irish inland waterways vessels
Tagged boats, canal, Grand Canal, Ireland, vessels, waterways, Waterways Ireland
Here is a short page with a few photographs showing a Waterways Ireland crew at work in Athlone, where they were laying buoys to mark a course for the swimming element of a triathlon. Waterways Ireland is the main sponsor of the event and had evidently committed staff resources as well as cash.
Posted in Extant waterways, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations
Tagged boats, Ireland, Operations, Shannon, vessels, waterways, Waterways Ireland, workboat
I’ve added four photos of Dowleys quay at Ballylynch to the Middle Suir page, two recent photos of the Dunbrody to the Tidal Barrow page, one unusual boat to the Boats that are different and numerous sailing boats (including a Romilly) to the page where you would expect to find them.
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
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
I’ve added some extra photos of
– Waterways Ireland workboats (four photos down the bottom of the page)
– non-WI workboats (several photos in several categories)
– sailing boats (a single photo taken on Lough Ree)
– traditional boats (three photos of Nore cots).
If you don’t want to have to scroll through everything on each page, ask your browser to find “July 2008” (all pages except Traditional boats) or “June 2008” (Traditional boats).
Posted in Irish inland waterways vessels, The fishing trade
Tagged boats, Ireland, Operations, Shannon, waterways, Waterways Ireland, workboat
Some years ago there was a scheme to install a hydroelectric generating plant at Tarmonbarry weir. The scheme was abandoned, and a Waterways Ireland team recently had to get a pump across the river to drain a bunded area. Here is how they moved the pump.
Thanks to GW, one of the boats on the wooden boats page already photographed has been identified as Scallywag. I’ve also added, at the bottom of the page, fourteen photos of seven new wooden boats. Several of them are unnamed or unidentified, so if you recognise any of them please leave a comment at the bottom of the page.
We were at Dromod when a Carrickcraft hire cruiser went aground outside the harbour in poor weather. I was impressed by how quickly Carrickcraft got a rescue crew to the scene and how efficiently they got the boat off and into safety before a depression of 988 arrived. Here are photos of the rescue.
It’s not that the tidal section of the Irish River Barrow is lost or closed down or abandoned, but its current traffic is but a shadow of what it was. This page follows a journey upstream, from Cheekpoint and Barrow Bridge (where the Barrow joins the Suir) to St Mullins (where the Barrow Navigation begins). En route, it notices railway bridges, old quays and ferry routes, limekilns that were supplied by river, mills and sprat weirs.
Posted in Extant waterways, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations
Irish waterways history