South Tipperary County Council participated in the EU Waterways Forward project, with a focus on the River Suir. Here is a brief report on the Suir River Café project.
The other Irish participant was Waterways Ireland, whose project (PDF) was about the implementation of the Water Framework Directive on canals.
Posted in Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish waterways general, Natural heritage, Operations, Suir, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged Grand Canal, Ireland, river café, Royal Canal, South Tipperary County Counci, Suir, Water Framework Directive, waterways, Waterways Forward, Waterways Ireland
A former minister for waterways has been elected President, dooming the state to seven years of waffle. He is chiefly famous (in these parts) for having given four barges to “communities” as well as for seizing the waterways from the OPW; I understand that three of the barges have now been returned to the waterways service (now Waterways Ireland).
It seems that some folk are not entirely convinced of his poetic gifts. I stand with Nigel Molesworth.
Apologies to folk who have left Comments or otherwise communicated in recent weeks: I’ve been away, most recently at the far end of the Shannon and at Greenwich. I am now beginning to tackle my correspondence.
De Wadden
De Wadden formerly traded to the (Munster) Blackwater and is now displayed in a dry dock at Liverpool. I knew she was there, but I hadn’t known that the Kathleen & May, now on sale, was there too.
Kathleen & May
In Greenwich, I saw a bust of George Biddell Airy, late Astronomer Royal, whose work on the tides of the Shannon Estuary is of such great interest.
George Biddell Airy
Posted in Ashore, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish waterways general, Operations, People, Restoration and rebuilding, shannon estuary, Steamers, The cattle trade, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged Airy, Blackwater, boats, De Wadden, Ireland, Kathleen & May, Shannon, tide, waterways
How many Protestants does Waterways Ireland employ in Northern Ireland? Jim Allister MLA has found out; the answer is here.
Posted in Economic activities, Ireland, People, Politics, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged catholic, Ireland, Jim Allister, MLA, protestant, Waterways Ireland
Troll on over to WI’s website where you can download the Draft Marketing Strategy 2011–2016. The current version has no images (thank goodness) — and no (or very few) numbers for tangible outcomes.
The annual marketing spend by Waterways Ireland is approximately €1million per annum with additional funding of approximately €2million being leveraged from other organisations to support the inland waterways sector.
“But what good came of it at last?” quoth Little Peterkin.
“Why, that I cannot tell,” said he, “but ’twas a famous victory.”
Members of the Heritage Boat Association have, in recent weeks, visited Piltown (Co Kilkenny) and Portlaw (Co Waterford) by barge, the first time in many years that large vessels have been up those rivers.
Many of the published accounts of Portlaw, including the Heritage Council’s Heritage Conservation Plan, pay inadequate attention to the navigation of the Clodiagh; it may have been even richer than we thought.
The HBA has a press release about some significant finds at Portlaw.
The owners of the barge Hawthorn joined other boats for the trips and wrote about them here:
Here is the relevant section of the OSI map for Portlaw (choose one of the Historic options). Here is where the Pil joins the Suir (zoomed out).
Here is my own article (in need of updating) about Portlaw and the Clodiagh.
Incidentally, I contend that the OSI maps are wrong in describing the gates on the canal as flood gates: they would open to, rather than close against, an incoming flood, and would prevent the discharge of an outgoing flood.
Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Irish waterways general, Natural heritage, Operations, People, Restoration and rebuilding, Scenery, Sources, Suir, Uncategorized, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged boats, canal, Carrick-on-Suir, Clodiagh, floods, flow, Heritage Boat Association, Ireland, Kilkenny, lock, Operations, Pil, Piltown, Portlaw, quay, Suir, vessels, Waterford, waterways, weir
… in Clones.
Posted in Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Restoration and rebuilding, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged canal, Clones, Department of Community Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, Erne, Ireland, Lough Neagh, Ulster Canal, waterways, Waterways Ireland
Here is a very short report from someone who did some of it (Dublin to Abbeyshrule).
Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Extant waterways, Ireland, Non-waterway, Scenery, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged canal, Ireland, Royal Canal, Waterways Ireland
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
Read about the EU’s Waterways Forward project here and download PDFs showing what the Irish participants Waterways Ireland and South Tipperary County Council got out of the project. WI’s project was on the implementation of the Water Framework Directive on the Royal and Grand Canals; South Tipperary County Council’s was about generating a shared vision for the Suir through the River Café project.
Some folk may recognise the canal boat on the WI document. That fella gets in everywhere.
Posted in Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Natural heritage, Operations, People, Politics, Suir, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged boats, canal, Grand Canal, Ireland, Operations, river café, Royal Canal, Suir, Water Framework Directive, waterways, Waterways Forward, Waterways Ireland
Irish waterways history