Statutory Instrument No 195 of 2011 transfers responsibility for inland waterways (and Waterways Ireland and waterways northsouthery) from Craggy Island to the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport.
It does not say whether the same people are still doing the work.
Text of the statutory instrument here.
Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Ireland, Politics, Sources, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged Barrow, Department of Community Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, Erne, Grand Canal, Ireland, Royal Canal, Shannon, Ulster Canal, waterways, Waterways Ireland
In 1840 the rival steamers Dover Castle and Garryowen competed for traffic on the Shannon Estuary. While I know of no pictures of the steamers (if you know of any, please let me know), we have a reasonable amount of information about their operations. I discuss some aspects of those operations here. For an explanation of the page title, see here, but do not be diverted down this byway.
Posted in Built heritage, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, People, Scenery, shannon estuary, Sources, Steamers, The cattle trade, The turf trade, Tourism, Water sports activities, Waterways management
Tagged boats, bridge, Cahercon, Cahircon, Cappa, Charles Wye Williams, Clare, Dover Castle, Fergus, Foynes, Garryowen, Glin, Ireland, jetties, Kerry, Kilrush, Labasheeda, Limerick, Limerick Reporter, lock, Loughill, Maria Frances Dickson, Operations, quay, Red Gap, Shannon, Steamboat Quay, Tarbert, turf, vessels, waterways, Wellesley Bridge
Athlone, from The Tourist's Illustrated Hand-Book for Ireland 3rd ed David Bryce, London 1854
Page 84 of Ruth Delany’s The Shannon Navigation (Lilliput Press 2008) has a drawing with this caption:
A drawing by Edward Jones which it is thought might depict the Shannon Commission’s survey in progress at an unidentified location possibly down the Shannon Estuary. (Courtesy of the Society of Antiquaries of London)
I suggest that the drawing is of Saleen, on the Ballylongford Creek in Co Kerry, on the lower reaches of the Shannon Estuary. The first word written on the drawing looks like “Sawline”, which might be a version of “Saleen”.
Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Operations, People, Scenery, shannon estuary, Sources, The turf trade, Waterways management
Tagged Ballylongford, boats, Edward Jones, Ireland, Kerry, Operations, quay, Royal Society of Antiquaries, Ruth Delany, Saleen, Shannon, Shannon Commissioners, Trinity College, turf, vessels, waterways
If George Stephenson, Father of Railways, had had his way, you would have been able to travel from Carrick-on-Suir to Waterford by river – but in a railway carriage. Read about it here.
Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Irish waterways general, Rail, Sources
Tagged boats, Carrick-on-Suir, George Stephenson, Ireland, jetties, Limerick, Operations, quay, railway, Suir, Tipperary, vessels, Waterford, waterways
I have started a new section on People. So far, the top-level page links only to the first entry, which is for Major Rowland Raven-Hart OBE, whose Canoeing in Ireland, published in around 1938, is a short guide to canoeing on several of Ireland’s longer rivers, including the Shannon, the Erne, the Suir, the Barrow and the Munster Blackwater.
I have added such information about Major Raven-Hart as I have been able to find.
Posted in Extant waterways, Irish waterways general, Scenery, Sources, Water sports activities
Tagged Bann, Barrow, Blackwater, boats, Boyne, bridge, canoe, Canoe Errant, Carlingford, Erne, flow, Foyle, Ireland, Killaloe, Killarney, Liffey, Limerick, Lough Corrib, Lough Derg, Lough Gill, Lough Mask, Lough Neagh, Nore, portage, Raven-Hart, Shannon, Slaney, Strangford, Suir, waterways
Illustrations of early Irish inland waterways vessels are relatively scarce. The drawing below shows the sterns of two of them.
Portobello Harbour 1882
This is from The Graphic of May 13, 1882, and shows the lighting of tar-barrels in Portobello Harbour, on the Grand Canal in Dublin, to celebrate the release from prison of Charles Stewart Parnell and two colleagues.
The layout of the harbour in around 1900 can be seen on the OSI Historic 25″ map. Where were the vessels tied? What are the buildings in the background? What can be said about the vessels? Presumably wooden horse-drawn barges, but they look rather narrow to me. Comments welcome.
The harbour itself is, alas, no more.
Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Irish inland waterways vessels, Irish waterways general, Operations, Sources
Tagged boats, bridge, canal, dry dock, Grand Canal, horse-drawn, Ireland, lock, lost, Operations, Parnell, Portobello, quay, vessels, waterways, wooden barge
The lock at Clondra may be the only one on the Shannon that is in the same place, and doing the same job, since the days of the Commissioners of Inland Navigation in the middle of the eighteenth century. The lock itself has been refurbished several times, and in recent years the lock furniture has been altered to make it impossible for boaters to work their own boats through it. But it has a very interesting collection of gear and it is well worth using, even if you’re not going to the Royal Canal at Richmond Harbour.
Posted in Ashore, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Operations, Sources
Tagged Alcuin, Board of Works, boats, bridge, Camlin, canal, Clondara, Clondra, Cloondara, Cloondra, Commissioners for the Improvement of the Navigation of the River Shannon, Commissioners of Inland Navigation, Dúchas, Directors General of Inland Navigation, hydraulic, Ireland, lock, lock gear, Longford, Operations, OPW, quay, rack, Richmond Harbour, Royal Canal, Ruth Delany, Shannon, Shannon Commissioners, Tarmonbarry, vessels, water level, waterways, Waterways Ireland, weir
O’Briensbridge is a village in Co Clare, islanded between the headrace of the Ardnacrusha hydroelectric power station and the River Shannon. Up to 1929 the river was the navigation between Limerick and Lough Derg (and eventually Dublin), and the bridge itself was something of an obstacle to navigation.
In 1832 the engineer Thomas Rhodes drew a sketch of the bridge with 14 arches, whereas nowadays it has only 12. We know when the seven arches on the Co Limerick side were reduced to six, but it has not been clear when an arch was removed from the Clare side. I think I know the answer; you can read it here.
Posted in Ashore, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Irish inland waterways vessels, Irish waterways general, Operations, Scenery, Sources, Steamers
Tagged anchor, arch, boats, bridge, Brownrigg, cable, canal, capstan, Castleconnell, Charles Wye Williams, Clare, cot, delany, Emerson Tennant, ESB, floods, Hodges, Inglis, Inland Steam Navigation Company, Ireland, JK, Kierse, Killaloe, Limerick, lost, Lough Derg, Montpelier, O'Briensbridge, Operations, Parteen Villa Weir, quay, Rhodes, Shannon, Shannon Commissioners, steam, towing-path, towpath, trackway, vessels, water level, waterways
On my old photographic website I had a page of photos of an abandoned barge at Plassey, on the River Shannon. I have now moved those photos to here and added some text.
I am hoping that someone expert in old iron barges might be able to make a guess at the age, and perhaps even the origin, of the barge. I will, in the meantime, be trying to pin down the date of its abandonment.
Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Irish inland waterways vessels, Irish waterways general, Operations, Sources, Steamers
Tagged Annabeg, Annaghbed, boats, bridge, canal, Clare, docks, ferry, floods, Gilloge, Gillogue, Gully, Hannan, Ireland, John Laird, Killaloe, Limerick, lock, lost, Montpelier, O'Briensbridge, Operations, Plassey, quarry, Rainsford, Shannon, Sheehy, stone, University of Limerick, vessels, waterways
Irish waterways history