In 1849 the Grand Canal Company decided to begin operating a cargo-carrying service on its own canal, initially from Dublin to Naas and from Dublin to Kilbeggan, both destinations on branch lines. According to Ruth Delany, Naas was included because
[…] Daly of Sallins, the only trader to Naas, had announced his intention of withdrawing the service which he was operating at a considerable loss.[1]
It may be the same Daly of Sallins who had leased the Grand Canal Company’s hotel in Sallins after the lease to the Great Southern & Western Railway ended in 1847. Delany says that the Daly family
[…] looked after the maintenance of sections of the banks and trackways for the company under contract and later became the horse contractors for the company’s trade boats.[2]
By 1870, however, the Grand Canal Company had ended that arrangement:
The haulage of the boats by their own horses had been a great success. It had been done at a much less rate, and more efficiently, than was done before by contract.[3]
It is possible that the company used contractors for some of its work some of the time, perhaps to supplement its own resources in busy seasons. A report to the company’s half-yearly meeting in August 1888 included these items>
[…] £103 for a new roof to their stables at Shannon Harbour. […] their horsing account for 52 horses at £669. They had during the last half year replaced several horses worn out in the service by new purchases. Their stud was never in a better condition than at present. […] They had succeeded in obtaining savings in new haulage contracts […].[4]
In February 1890, a new company chairman, Mr William F De V Kane JP, reported that Mr T J Daly, of Sallins, had been appointed inspector and clerk of works to the company engineer, Mr Mulvany, at a salary of £150 a year and travelling expenses;
[…] and the directors were confident that by this appointment an improvement in the management of horses in the country as well as economy would be secured.[5]
Perhaps that Daly was related to the other Dalys. I would welcome further information about the Daly family of Sallins.
Sources
[1] Ruth Delany The Grand Canal of Ireland David & Charles, Newton Abbot 1973
[2] ibid
[3] Report to Grand Canal Company half-yearly meeting 26 February 1870 in Dublin Evening Mail 26 February 1870
[4] Freeman’s Journal 20 August 1888
[5] ibid
Irish waterways history 