Waterways Ireland tender documents are a source of interesting and occasionally useful information. At present WI is looking for tenders for
Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish waterways general, Operations, Restoration and rebuilding, Scenery, Sources, The turf trade, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged canal, Ireland, Operations, Royal Canal, Shannon, turf, waterways, Waterways Ireland, weir
… just some of the things you can see from the Killimer to Tarbert ferry.
Actually, I lied about the weirs, but they were there once. As were the salmon.
Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Irish waterways general, Natural heritage, Non-waterway, Operations, Scenery, shannon estuary, Sources, Steamers, The cattle trade, The fishing trade, The turf trade, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management, Weather
Tagged battery, boats, Clare, Endesa, ESB, estuary, ferry, flow, fort, Ireland, jetties, Kerry, Kilkerin, Killaloe, Killimer, Kilrush, lighthouse, Limerick, Napoleon, Operations, power station, quay, redoubt, Shannon, Tarbert, Tarbert Race, Tarbert Roads, vessels, waterways, weir, workboat
Valerie Anex’s photos of ghost estates, many on the Upper Shannon and the Shannon–Erne Waterway, are worth a look. Flash is required. Some more of them here, where you can see them in high resolution.
Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Ireland, Irish waterways general, Operations, Politics, Scenery, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged builders, Celtic Tiger, ghost estates, Ireland, Keshcarrigan, Rooskey, Roosky, scenery, Shannon, Shannon–Erne Waterway, Valerie Anex, waterways
Waterways Ireland’s visitor centre in Dublin, known as the Box in the Docks, has been closed for some time. I don’t know whether it has yet been reopened, but it has a new website.
If you are pained by greengrocers’ apostrophes, don’t go there. The main problem, though, is that the website says nothing about what is in the Box. Why “Plan a visit” if you don’t know what you’ll see when you get there?
Perhaps it’s a work in progress, with more to be added later, but I’d welcome information about what’s in the centre from anyone who has visited it recently.
… but without a stake through its heart. The Ulster Canal is dead, but it’s spinning in its grave. Its parent department has admitted some of the truth about its funding, but Waterways Ireland will be applying for planning permission for the scheme: there’s enough money for that, but not for digging. Nonetheless, Fine Gael TDs have managed to distract attention from the absence of funding by pointing to the planning application, while Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil have not realised that a scheme’s benefits should outweigh its costs. Return of the Son of the Ghost of the Bride of the Ulster Canal on view here.
Posted in Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Operations, People, Politics, Restoration and rebuilding, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged Anglo-Celt, assets, budget, canal, Cavan, Clones, Dáil, Deenihan, Department of Community Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, Dublin, Erne, Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Heather Humphreys, Ireland, lost, Lough Neagh, McGinley, McLellan, minister, Monaghan, Operations, Shannon, Sinn Fein, Ulster Canal, waterways, Waterways Ireland
What are waterways halting-sites or harbours used for? After some time spent on the Shannon–Erne Waterway, I can say that they’re not just for cruising boaters. Other users included:
At Ballyconnell, a chap drove down in an elderly tractor with three blue barrels on the back, filled up with water and drove away. He was followed by a couple in a 2011 Cavan-registered Renault Fluence, with six 2-litre plastic containers in the boot, who also filled up and drove off. [I have photos of both the tractor and the car.] When water is charged for by the amount used, Waterways Ireland may have to consider locking its taps.
Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Ireland, Non-waterway, Operations, People, Tourism, Water sports activities, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged Ballyconnell, boats, charges, Ireland, Shannon-Erne Waterway, users, water, waterways, Waterways Ireland
Irish waterways history 