The Irish Times reports that the High Court has permitted Fingal [North Dublin] County Council to scrap the former wooden minesweeper Portisham on which Mr Shane Kennedy lives in Balbriggan Harbour, which is run by the council. It maintained that the boat suffered from “rotting timbers, water being taken on, lack of electrical and radio services, lack of working sanitation and generally unsafe conditions aboard”. The court permitted the council to have the boat towed to Howth to be broken up; it awarded costs against Mr Kennedy, who says that he intends to appeal.
His late Most Excellent Majesty Henry the Eighth, by the Grace of God, King of England and France, Defender of the Faith, Lord of Ireland and of the Church of England and also of Ireland in Earth Supreme Head, has many claims to fame, but the greatest is undoubtedly his Act for the Weares upon the Barrow, and other Waters in the County of Killkenny of 1537, which begins thus:
Prayen the commons of this present Parliament assembled, That where at all times necessarie boates, scowts, wherries, clarans, cottes, and other vessels, loden and bestowed with goods, merchandizes, and other stuffe, have beene used to passe and repasse thorough and in the King’s most excellent Majesty’s rivers and waters of the Barrow, the Noyre, the Suyr, and the Rie, within this land, which Rie is in the county of Kilkenny, to and from the King’s citie of Waterford, and the townes of Kilkenny, Rosse, and Clomel [sic], to and from diverse borrowe and corporate townes, and other places, being sitiated in the counties of Kyldare, Catherlagh, Wexford, Kilkenny, Waterford, and Tipperary, through which great commoditie and profit hath growen and might grow to the said citie, townes, noroughes, and other places, and to all and every the King’s true subjects adjoyning to the same waters and rivers: […]
We resume a couple of pages later:
[…] and that the said owners, their servants, marryners, boatmen, and other rulers and conveyers, and all other persons coming in ayd and help of them and every of them, at all such times as the said mariners, boatemen, and other rulers and conveyers shall thinke the same necessarie and needfull, shall have and occupie at every of their wills and pleasures, the space and breadth of seven foote or more, as need require, of plain ground, upon every part of the land, of every side of every the said rivers and waters, next adjoyning to the said rivers and waters, and that to bee where they must needs draw the said boats and other vessels afore named, with strength of horses or men, by land […].
So His late Most Excellent Majesty provided that those drawing boats, using manpower or horsepower, could use a space seven foot wide on either side of the river. From the 1750s onwards, work was done on building a towing-path along the Suir between Carrick and Clonmel; work seems to have been finished before 1789 and the towing-path continued in use until the early years of the twentieth century.
Kincor Castle below Sir Thomas’s Bridge at Ferryhouse
Much, but not all, of the towing-path is accessible, and maintainted by South Tipperary County Council; as well as providing a walking route, it allows anglers, boaters and other leisure users to get to the river. However, some sections are impassable, so that it is not possible to walk the whole length of this extremely scenic route between Clonmel and Carrick.
South Tipperary County Council is now considering declaring public roads on the towing-path and thus taking it in charge.
South Tipperary County Council’s newspaper ad about declaring public roads on the Suir towing-path
The Council’s documents are here. I think that this is a good idea and I have written to the Council (and to local newspapers) to declare my support.
Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Operations, People, Politics, Restoration and rebuilding, Sources, Suir, Tourism, Water sports activities, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged access, angling, Barrow, boats, bridge, Carrick-on-Suir, Clonmel, Deerpark, Ferryhouse, floods, flow, Ireland, King Henry VIII, Operations, public road, Suir, take in charge, Tipperary, towing-path, towpath, vessels, walking, water level
Here are some photos of recent L+M Keating projects.
Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, Restoration and rebuilding, Scenery, Shannon, Sources, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged boats, bridge, canal, Clare, dredging, Dublin, embankment, ESB, estuary, Grand Canal, Ireland, Killaloe, L & M Keating, Limerick, Lough Derg, Meelick, Operations, Portumna, Shannon, vessels, waterways, Waterways Ireland, workboat
Locaboat tells us that
All the countries of Europe have agreed to facilitate access to hire-boats which are duly equipped and certified, and operate in tourist areas where there is little commercial shopping [presumably “shipping”].
In France, Germany [list of areas], Ireland, Holland, Poland and the Venice Lagoon Locaboat has received permission from the local authorities for their boats to be hired without licence. Initial instruction, both theoretical and practical, is given at the point of embarkation, enabling you to quickly master your boat and grasp the essential rules of navigation. You will then be given a licence that is valid for the duration of your stay.
When you’re starting from Ketzin in Germany, however, a boating licence is obligatory. This is not valid for citizens from countries that don’t have a boating license (e.g. Great Britain or Denmark).
This suggests that Ireland does have a boating licence, which is the first I’ve heard of it.
On its English-language front page, incidentally, Locaboat bigs up the fact that licences are not required in Poland:
Licence free hiring now also in Poland
Good news: Due to a new regulation, since 1st August 2010 a boating license is no longer required for our boats in Poland! Now a barge trip in the natural paradise of the Masurian Lake District becomes even more attractive.
And very nice it looks too. I wonder whether the Polish lakes have provided extra competition for the Irish.
Posted in Economic activities, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, Restoration and rebuilding, Shannon, Sources, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged Ballinamore, boats, bridge, canal, Clondra, Erne, Ireland, Locaboat, Operations, penichette, Royal Canal, Shannon
Here is a page with some photos of what was said to be a Slaney Cot. The photos were taken in October 2010, in the car waiting area at Rosslare harbour; the cot was on a trailer, en route to Fishguard. It was said to have been built in Wexford and to be destined for the River Wye.
Posted in Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Restoration and rebuilding, Water sports activities, waterways
Tagged boats, cot, Fishguard, Ireland, Rosslare, Slaney, traditional, Wales, waterways, Wye
A few days ago, in a post about the Blarna, I pointed out that the last vessel to be built at the Alexandra Basin in Dublin was Waterways Ireland’s Coill-an-Eo, of which I have photos here. With all the new kit Waterways Ireland has got in the last few years, I was slightly worried that Coill-an-Eo might be retired, sold off or — worse — scrapped, although this news from Arklow Marine Services last October was reassuring. Well, Our Northern Correspondent has been in Roosky and has sent us these pics, with permission to reproduce them here.
Coill-an-Eo 1
Coill-an-Eo 2
Doesn’t the old girl look good? Hats off to Waterways Ireland and to Arklow Marine Services.
Update: I’m told that Mooney Boats of Killybegs also worked on the Coill-an-Eo, so hats off to them too. [h/t & © jc]
Further update: Aeroblast Services in Limerick have been on to say that they carried out the blasting and painting contract, and a fine job they did too [the last bit is what I said, not what they said]. Interesting pics of the work under way on their site here.
Posted in Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, People, Restoration and rebuilding, Shannon, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged Arklow Marine Services, boats, Coill-an-Eo, ddry dock, Ireland, Operations, Roosky, Shannon, vessels, waterways, Waterways Ireland, workboat
Irish waterways history 