Category Archives: Irish waterways general

The Johnstown navigation

I have considerably expanded my page on the Johnstown (Co Kilkenny) navigation with photos of Johnstown itself and of what seems to have been a bridge over the canal. I have failed to find any written account of this navigation and I would be grateful for any information on it or on any member of the Hely family who may have been an early engineer.

A stout fellow

Uncle Arthur is resting at Ardclough, near the Grand Canal. His brewery is 250 years old this year, but he himself is sadly neglected — and suffering badly from thirst.

In recognition of his major contribution to the development and use of Irish waterways, a small ceremony was held recently at Ardclough, at which he was presented with a bottle of his finest product. This page records the event.

Back in the USSR

I’ve added some photos of Moscow to my page South of Moscow, north of Geneva about the Grand Canal Company’s collieries.

South of Moscow, north of Geneva

Here’s a new page about some canals that were never built: several proposals for canals to the Grand Canal Company’s collieries in Co Laois.

The Lombardstown to Mallow Canal

New page up, linked off the Lost Irish Waterways page.

Monasterevan, the Venice of the west

This is a considerably expanded and updated version of an article I wrote years ago, with lots of photos. There are traces of three lost waterways to be seen in Monasterevan (my favoured spelling) and lots of other interesting waterways artefacts as well. There is even an operational puzzle: in the days when boats locked down from the canal to the Barrow, and locked back up on the far side, how were they propelled (and controlled) when crossing the river?

Steam on the Grand Canal

I have uploaded a report by Sir John MacNeill on experiments with steam boats on the Irish Grand Canal in 1851. The Grand Canal Company evidently asked him to compare two vessels; interestingly, one of them was a twin-screw boat. His recommendations include a change to the use of canal-boats with a beam of 6′ 6″ and the use of turf (peat) as a fuel.

The Canal at the World’s End

I’ve added an account of one of Ireland’s shortest canals, the Canal at the World’s End, to the Lost Irish Waterways page. There are several photos.

Castle Archdale

I’ve uploaded an article about the WW2 flying-boat base at Castle Archdale on Lough Erne, the place from which the Bismarck was spotted after it sank HMS Hood. I’ve included a few recent photos of the flying-boat dock.

The Clodiagh

I’ve updated an article I wrote in 2002 about the Clodiagh (a tributary of the Suir) and the Malcolmsons’ nineteenth-century industrial empire. I haven’t updated the section about the changes to the weir because I have no recent information, but I have added a lot of information about the tidal lock, which may be unique in these islands.