Category Archives: Rail

Raising the Royal

Posted on Wednesday 3 April 2013 | Leave a comment

Ewan Duffy of IndustrialHeritageIreland and I have both, in recent times, uncovered new information about the history of the Royal Canal after it was taken over by the Midland Great Western Railway in 1845: a period that, because (I think) of the absence of company archives, is not well covered in published histories of the Royal.

Ewan has now published a splendid piece of research showing that the Dublin end of the Royal Canal, from Newcomen Bridge (Lock 1) to Cross Guns Bridge (Lock 5), was extensively rebuilt during the second half of the nineteenth century. This is, as far as I know, entirely new information. It gains further interest from the interaction between different concerns — canal, railway, tramway, drainage — all contending for the same small space in Dublin.

I have no doubt that there is yet more to be discovered about the Royal’s lost century.

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Drainage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Non-waterway, Operations, People, Politics, Rail, Restoration and rebuilding, Sources, The cattle trade, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged barge, Binns, boats, bridge, canal, Cross Guns, Dublin, Ireland, lock, Midland Great Western Railway, Newcomen, Operations, Royal Canal, waterways

The Charles Wye Williams bridge campaign

Posted on Friday 22 March 2013 | 1 comment

Dublin City Council has published its call for proposals for naming the new bridge across the Liffey. According to RTE, various bolshies and literary types have been suggested, as though we didn’t have enough of them (and of politicians too). Accordingly, I have submitted an application suggesting that the bridge be named after a successful entrepreneur who understood technology and created employment: Charles Wye Williams, the Father of the Shannon, whose fleet of nine steamers and fifty-two barges gave us the Shannon as we know it today.

I will be happy to send a copy (PDF) of my application to anyone who is willing to support it.

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, People, Politics, Rail, Restoration and rebuilding, Shannon, shannon estuary, Sources, Steamers, The cattle trade, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged barge, boats, bridge, canal, Charles Wye Williams, City of Dublin Steam Packet Company, Clare, Dublin, Dublin City Council, estuary, Grand Canal, Haawkins Street, Ireland, Killaloe, Kilrush, Limerick, lock, Lough Derg, Marlborough Street, O'Briensbridge, Operations, Royal Canal, Shannon, steamer, Tipperary, turf, vessels, waterways

Crossing the Liffey

Posted on Thursday 28 February 2013 | 2 comments

Thanks to Paul Quinn for pics of the construction of the new LUAS bridge across the River Liffey in Dublin.

The Powers That Be

Dublin City Council tells us that “Construction on the bridge is due to commence in Autumn 2011”, which is nice to know, although an update would be nicer. Its PDF has a diagram of the bridge. If you can find anything about the bridge on the website of the National Transport Authority (which is paying for it), do please let me know. Incidentally, I hadn’t realised that the NTA’s reach had extended to passengers on ships, including those on inland waterways.

The contractors

Drilling contractor

The contractor is Graham Projects Ltd; Quinn Piling were working there a few weeks ago, but seem to have finished their end of things by now; I can’t find a website for Hilliard & Hilltwister Ltd of Listowel, Co Kerry.

Looking east from O’Connell Bridge

Looking west from Butt Bridge

Looking north from Burgh Quay

Looking north to the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company offices

Looking south from Eden Quay

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Operations, People, Rail, Restoration and rebuilding, Steamers, Uncategorized, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged bridge, CoDSPCo, Dublin, Eden Quay, Liffey, LUAS

Mystery solved

Posted on Wednesday 27 February 2013 | Leave a comment

Nobody tried the Spot the canal I set the other day, so I must now reveal that the eel weir shown is at the upper end of the Cong Canal. There are many photos and maps on that page.

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Drainage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Natural heritage, Non-waterway, Operations, Rail, Sources, Steamers, Tourism, waterways

Tagged Ashford, boats, bridge, canal, Cong, floods, flow, Ireland, jetties, lock, lost, Lough Corrib, Lough Mask, MacMahon, mill, navigation, Operations, quay, Roberts, vessels, water level, waterways, weir

The Dublin to Galway ship canal

Posted on Friday 22 February 2013 | Leave a comment

Another h/t to Ewan Duffy for the link to this Galway Independent article about the proposed Dublin to Galway ship canal. I was impressed to note that it covers Edward Watkin‘s late nineteenth century for a Dublin to Galway ship canal, which would save transatlantic steamers from having to go north or south of Ireland when travelling between Britain and America. It was, of course, a completely insane proposal; as some folk pointed out at the time, only Liverpool steamers found Ireland an obstacle and, being capable of 20 knots or so, might actually lose time by having to travel at 3 knots and through locks on a canal instead of steaming north or south about.

Incidentally, the article mentions the Panama Canal, which joins the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. So which ocean is at its western end?

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Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Foreign parts, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Non-waterway, Operations, People, Rail, Shannon, Sources, Steamers, waterways

Tagged boats, canal, Cloncurry, Dublin, Edward Watking, Galway, Ireland, Killaly, lock, Operations, Shannon, ship canal, waterways

Revising the Royal

Posted on Friday 22 February 2013 | 1 comment

Ewan Duffy of IndustrialHeritageIreland and I have both, in recent times, uncovered new information about the history of the Royal Canal after it was taken over by the Midland Great Western Railway in 1845: a period that, because (I think) of the absence of company archives, is not well covered in published histories of the Royal. Ewan today said that he will be posting new material about the stretch from Lock 1 to Lock 5 on 30 March 2013, so watch that space.

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Non-waterway, Operations, Rail, Restoration and rebuilding, Steamers, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged boats, bridge, canal, Dublin, Ewan Duffy, industrial heritage ireland, Ireland, lock, MGWR, railway, Royal Canal

Dargan, O’Regan, steam and the Newry Canal

Posted on Wednesday 20 February 2013 | Leave a comment

I wrote here about Simon O’Regan’s passenger-carrying screw steamer tried on the Grand Canal in Dublin in 1850. I am grateful to John Ditchfield for pointing me to an article about what happened next: steam trials on the Newry Canal in 1850, but this time with a lumber (freight) boat.

I would welcome more information about Simon O’Regan or about the use of steam power on the Newry Canal.

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Posted in Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, People, Rail, Restoration and rebuilding, Sources, Steamers, Ulster Canal, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged barge, belfast, boats, bridge, canal, carrying, Clones, Erne, funnel, Grand Canal, Ireland, lighter, Lisburn, Liverpool, lock, Lough Erne, Lough Neagh, lumber-boat, McCutcheon, Moyallon, Newry, Newry Canal, Operations, passage boat, Portadown, Quaker, railway, screw, Simon O'Regan, steamer, Ulster Canal, vessels, waterways, Waterways Ireland, William Dargan

Simon O’Regan -v- John Inshaw

Posted on Monday 18 February 2013 | Leave a comment

Did Simon O’Regan attempt to preempt John Inshaw? Here is a page about O’Regan’s single-screw passenger steamer, demonstrated at Portobello on the Grand Canal in Dublin in 1850.

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Posted in Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, People, Politics, Rail, Sources, Steamers, waterways

Tagged belfast, boats, boiler, canal, Dublin, Firefly, fly-boat, Grand Canal, Grand Canal Company, Ireland, John Erickson, John Inshaw, Liverpool, lock, Newcastle, Operations, passage boat, screw, Shannon, Simon O'Regan, steam engine, steamer, swift boat, vessels, waterways, William Dargan

Wexford

Posted on Monday 18 February 2013 | 2 comments

Here is a great account of the development of Wexford Harbour, with a history of its shipping here.

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Charles Wye Williams, Drainage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Natural heritage, Non-waterway, Operations, People, Politics, Rail, Scenery, Sources, Steamers, The fishing trade, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged Bargy, boats, bridge, Caarnsore, Forth, Ireland, Operations, Slaney, waterways, Wexford

Lismore to Fermoy

Posted on Wednesday 6 February 2013 | Leave a comment

A meeting was held in Fermoy in 1844 to promote a proposal to make the Blackwater navigable from Lismore upstream to Fermoy. Here is the Cork Examiner‘s account of the meeting.

Fermoy railway station opened in 1860.

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Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Non-waterway, Operations, People, Politics, Rail, Shannon, Sources, Steamers, waterways

Tagged Allin, Blackwater, boats, bridge, canal, Cappoquin, estuary, Fermoy, Ireland, Jones, Lismore, Musgrave, Shannon, vessels, waterways, weir, Youghal

Category Archives: Rail

Raising the Royal

The Charles Wye Williams bridge campaign

Crossing the Liffey

Mystery solved

The Dublin to Galway ship canal

Revising the Royal

Dargan, O’Regan, steam and the Newry Canal

Simon O’Regan -v- John Inshaw

Wexford

Lismore to Fermoy

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