Category Archives: Irish waterways general

The Lough Boora feeder

This page is about an unsuccessful search for the Lough Boora feeder, which joined the Grand Canal west of Pollagh and, befoer 1936, was used by boats serving the peat works at Turraun. There is a vaguely canal-like object and there are several photos of bogs, including the Lough Boora parklands.

Boats that are … different

Some people like to do their own thing. Not for them the off-the-shelf mass-produced GRP boat; not the elegant wooden cruiser nor even the conventional barge conversion. They design their boats to meet specific needs, solve specific problems and satisfy their own tastes. Here are some of the results.

More workboats

Here is a very long page showing working boats that are not operated by Waterways Ireland. They include hotel boats, restaurant boats, trip boats, rescue boats, police boats and sand barges.

The abandoned line of the Grand Canal to James’s St Harbour

I have put up four pages covering the Main Line of the Irish Grand Canal from Suir Road to the original terminus at Grand Canal Harbour, James’s Street. This account covers Guinness and Dublin’s water supply as well as the line of the canal. There are some photos of trams and of the 1′ 10″ gauge Guinness locomotives for Steam Men. Page 1 of 4 is here.

Roscrea

I’ve updated my page on the Roscrea canals with some photos of Birchgrove, where the Birch family distillery was; this distillery was supplied with turf by canal. I’ve also added a small amount of extra information, some links and a photo of the remarkable Monaincha Abbey, which should be far better known than it is.

Traditional boats and replicas

I’ve put up a page with photos of some of the smaller traditional boats, mostly fishing boats, used on Irish inland waterways and estuaries. This is by no means a comprehensive account: for that you need the book Traditional Boats of Ireland and its website www.tradboats.ie.

Wooden boats

I’ve moved my photos of wooden boats on Irish inland waterways from pbase.com to here, with a few extra photos added.

The Maigue

I’ve put up some photos of this short river navigation, one of the earliest to be tackled in Ireland. It may still be navigable, certainly by small boats and perhaps by something larger. I understand however that the entrance from the Shannon Estuary is tricky and requires local knowledge.

There is a bit of a mystery about the quay in Adare. A stretch of canal has disappeared and the bridge at Ferrybridge has lost its opening arch. But there are still things to see ….

Waterways Ireland workboats

Just as a change from all the pages about lost waterways, I’ve put up a page of photos of Waterways Ireland workboats.

Monasterevan revisited

I’ve added two items to my page about Monasterevan. One is about the ban on Sunday traffic and the other is about how boats got across the Barrow before the aqueduct was built. I’m afraid the items are in the middle of the text ….