Category Archives: Scenery

Cots, nets and salmon

Posted on Thursday 9 August 2012 | Leave a comment

Posted in Economic activities, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, People, Politics, Scenery, Suir, The fishing trade, waterways, Weather

Tagged boats, Carrick-on-Suir, cot, Operations, salmon, snap-net fishing, Suir, vessels, workboat

Plasticine

Posted on Thursday 9 August 2012 | 2 comments

Why, when speaking of the branded product Plasticine, did [do?] Irish teachers insist on using the Irish word marla? Even that word was, according to Terry Dolan’s Dictionary of Hiberno-English [Gill & Macmillan, Dublin 2004; new ed forthcoming], derived from the English marl.

At least in the nineteenth century, marl was a valuable manure or fertiliser and, on Lough Derg, Mr Head of the Derry Estate introduced a system of dredging it from deep water. Read about it here.

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Posted in Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, People, Scenery, Shannon, Sources, Steamers, The cattle trade, waterways

Tagged "marl dock", boats, broadford, Clare, Derry Castle, Derry estate, dredging, Dublin Society, fertiliser, Hely Dutton, Ireland, Killaloe, Lough Derg, manure, marl, Mr Head, Operations, Scarriff, Shannon, shelly, Spaight, Tipperary, vessels, waterways, workboat

Waterways walks

Posted on Tuesday 31 July 2012 | Leave a comment

Look!

Waterways Ireland and a local authority have cooperated in opening a canalside walking and cycling path!

And an excitable minister opened it, saying

This has huge potential for tourism but it also has a huge knock on effect for communities in the health benefit facilities like this bring and this, in turn has benefits in reducing the press on our health services as well. I want to see more walkways because I want to see more people out walking and seeing the natural beauty that we here in Ireland are blessed to have around us.

And rightly so. But you don’t need an expensive canal in order to provide a walk.

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Posted in Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Forgotten navigations, Irish waterways general, Natural heritage, Non-waterway, Operations, People, Politics, Restoration and rebuilding, Scenery, Ulster Canal, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged Ballinamore, boats, bridge, canal, Clones, department of arts heritage and the gaeltacht, Erne, Ireland, Lough Neagh, Michael Ring, Operations, Shannon, Shannon-Erne Waterway, Ulster Canal, walk, waterways, Waterways Ireland

Wind power

Posted on Monday 9 July 2012 | Leave a comment

Lough Derg

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Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Natural heritage, Scenery, Shannon, Water sports activities

Tagged boats, Ireland, Lough Derg, Shannon, wind turbine

Shannon Princess II

Posted on Friday 15 June 2012 | Leave a comment

Had I been able to erect a fence across the pier at Mountshannon recently, I might have made money by charging a fee to the many folk who walked down to look at the Shannon Princess II. When I told one chap that it was a hotel barge, he asked if he could go there for lunch. I tried to explain, but this notice from TravelWorld may explain it better.

Admittedly the headline is a bit misleading: when I saw it first I thought that the guests were to dress as artisans, whereas in fact the theme is artisan food, which means food made by members of the middle classes for sale to other members thereof. Put it this way: you might not invite the staff of your local Aldi to your garden parties but you would be quite happy to have your artisan food suppliers there. Not that I’ve anything against “artisan” food per se (indeed I buy lots of it); I just dislike the name.

More on the Shannon Princess here and here. When I win the lottery ….

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Posted in Economic activities, Extant waterways, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Natural heritage, Operations, Scenery, Shannon, Tourism, waterways

Tagged boats, hotel barge, Ireland, Lough Derg, Mountshannon, Shannon, Shannon Princess, workboat

Eppur si muove

Posted on Friday 15 June 2012 | 2 comments

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Posted in Extant waterways, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, Scenery, Shannon, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged boats, Lough Derg, Mountshannon, Shannon, waterways, Waterways Ireland

WI on the wireless?

Posted on Tuesday 12 June 2012 | 2 comments

I heard several ads today on 2RN (or Radio Athlone, as the young folk say) for, er, “fun” on the Shannon and the Erne. Folk were encouraged to visit a Discover Ireland website, which I think is run by one of the bits of what used to be Bord Fáilte.

The site in question might be this one, where the Lough Derg offers include a hotel in Thurles, which is miles away from Lough Derg. The insistence on “fun” and “family adventure” suggests that that site is aimed at the members of the moronic community, and it is difficult to find any information apart from the prepackaged “family breaks”. And I’m not sure that the slogan “Discover Fermanagh: Where the days seem longer …” is a winner: why travel to Fermanagh to be bored when you could do it at home?

But what is most interesting is the sudden increase in the amount of advertising on the wireless; I don’t yet know whether it is matched by an increase in that on other media. I assume that tourism folk don’t spend money unless they are short of visitors. So have the numbers of overseas, foreign and domestic holiday-makers been disappointing so far this year? I don’t know, and the Tourism Barometer for April 2012 [PDF] suggested that service providers were optimistic at least at that stage.

I am aware that Waterways Ireland, which contributes to the lakelands marketing effort, has pulled advertising from some media; is it diverting its spending in an effort to boost tourism, or is that simply a change of policy consequent on a change of management? I would welcome information.

I would also welcome a proper analysis of the success of WI’s Lakelands and Inland Waterways marketign initiative.

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Posted in Economic activities, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Ireland, Natural heritage, Operations, Politics, Scenery, Shannon, Tourism, Water sports activities, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged advertising, boats, Bord Failte, Erne, lakelands, marketing, Shannon, tourism, waterways, Waterways Ireland

A day at Mountshannon

Posted on Tuesday 12 June 2012 | Leave a comment

Some of the variety of boats seen at Mountshannon on 4 June 2012.

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Posted in Extant waterways, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, People, Scenery, Shannon, Tourism, Water sports activities, waterways, Weather

Tagged angling, boats, canoe, cruiser, kayak, ketch, lakeboat, Lough Derg, Mountshannon, outboard, Romilly, rowing, Shannon, Shannon Princess, vessels, waterways, workboat

Lagan Navigation: Ballyskeagh High Bridge

Posted on Tuesday 12 June 2012 | Leave a comment

A brief account here, with some photographs and some thoughts on the design of the locks of the Lagan Navigation.

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Foreign parts, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish waterways general, Natural heritage, Operations, Restoration and rebuilding, Scenery, waterways

Tagged Ballyskeagh, belfast, bleach, boats, bridge, canal, Ireland, Lagan, Lambeg, Lisburn, lock, May Blair, McLaughlin & Harvey, mills, Richard Owen, Thomas Omer, waterways

Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang

Posted on Sunday 10 June 2012 | 1 comment

The old Limerick Navigation included a section of canal at Killaloe, with three locks. The uppermost, now disused, is still visible at Killaloe; the middle lock (Moys) is accessible by small boat; the third (Cussaun) is under water in the Flooded Area created by Parteen Villa Weir. The wall that divided the canal from the river downstream of Killaloe bridge forms an island whereon are the former eel-packing station run by the ESB, the former goods store (inhabited by Waterways Ireland) and the former marble mill (now an ESB engineering works). The island hosts the Killaloe market on Sunday mornings.

The curious can (obstructions permitting) walk a little further downstream to where the wall was breached, allowing boats to access the canal below the bridge without having to go as far as Moys Lock.

An obstruction

A section of the canal below the bridge in Killaloe ~1900 (OSI)

The west side of the canal, below the slip, was lined with trees.

The trees

May 2008

November 2008

November 2008, with homemade boat shelter

The trees behind the marble mill: seen from the far side of the river in December 2009

August 2010

A fallen tree blocks the canal in December 2010

April 2011

November 2011

Waterways Ireland Marine Notice 86 of 2011

MARINE NOTICE No. 86 of 2011
Shannon Navigation
Lough Derg
Killaloe Canal

Canal Maintenance – Tree Cutting

Waterways Ireland wishes to advise all masters and owners of vessels that tree cutting will take place along the Killaloe Canal banks from the vicinity of the cathedral downstream to the lower entrance from the river
Shannon, from Monday 19th Sep until about mid Oct.

Access to this section of the canal will be closed during this period. […]

Marine Notice 24/2012 of 16 March 2012 said

Works are still ongoing along the Killaloe Canal banks from the vicinity of the Cathedral downstream to the lower entrance from the river Shannon.

Access to this section of the canal will be closed until further notice.

That notice has not (as of 10 June 2012) been withdrawn so it must be assumed that the works continue.