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.
Posted in Ashore, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Irish waterways general, Non-waterway, Operations, Scenery, shannon estuary, Steamers
Tagged Ballylongford, battery, boats, Clare, Coast Guard, ESB, ferry, flow, fort, Ireland, jetties, Kerry, Killaloe, Killimer, Kilrush, Limerick, marble mill, Moneypoint, Operations, ordnance ground, pier, quarry, quay, Saleen, Shannon, shannon estuary, Tarbert, vessels, waterways
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.
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
Tagged Anner, apple, Black Weir, boats, bridge, Bulmers, canal, canoe, Carrick-on-Suir, Clonmel, fishing hut, floods, flow, Gurteen, Gurteen Le Poer, IHAI< Ferd Hamond, Ireland, Killaloan, Kilsheelan, lost, Magners, Neal's Weir, Operations, orchard, Power's Weir, quay, Ralph O'Callaghan, Rodrigo Flash, Sir Thomas's bridge, Slievenamon, Suir, Tikincor, vessels, water level, waterways, weir
John Martin, Chief Executive of Waterways Ireland, received a bonus of £8500 (€9628) in February 2010, as a reward for his performance in 2007.
Posted in Economic activities, Irish waterways general, Non-waterway, Operations
Tagged bonus, Ireland, Waterways Ireland
This site has some great photos of the replacement of the railway bridge over the Shannon Navigation at Lough Tap, near Drumsna, on 31 October 2009.
Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Irish waterways general, Non-waterway, Operations, Rail
Tagged boats, bridge, crane, Dromod, Drumsna, Ireland, Lough Tap, Operations, railway, Shannon, waterways
I spent today helping the skipper of a barge to carry a cargo of Guinness by water to Limerick, fifty years after the last Grand Canal Company commercial cargo, which was of Guinness to Limerick. (Actually, my help was minimal, confined mostly to acting as ballast, a role I fill very well, and taking 1,439 photographs.) There will be a ceremony at Dolan’s in Limerick tomorrow at the appropriate time.
Folk in other parts of the country may find it easier to undertake a pilgrimage to Uncle Arthur’s final resting place. Here are links to some maps:
Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Irish waterways general, Non-waterway, Operations, Scenery
Tagged 1759, Ardclough, Arthur Guinness, Arthur's Day, boats, bridge, canal, Dolan's, Grand Canal, Guinness, Ireland, Ireland canals Grand Royal, Limerick, Operations, porter, Shannon, stout, Uncle Arthur, vessels, waterways
Irish waterways history 