Category Archives: waterways

Royal water

Posted on Tuesday 22 May 2012 | 2 comments

The Mullingar Advertiser discusses the Royal Canal water supply here. Some background info on this site here, here and here.

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Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Ireland, Irish waterways general, Operations, People, Politics, waterways, Waterways management

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Dunally Line

Posted on Monday 21 May 2012 | 1 comment

The Birdhill Tidy Towns group has a heritage trail on its website and it was there that I first heard of the Dunally Line, AKA the R496. Tipperary North Riding County Council also uses the name [.DOC] and it is also used in several places on OpenStreetMap.

I would like to know more about the date, purpose and circumstances of the construction of the Dunally Line.

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Operations, People, Shannon, Steamers, The cattle trade, waterways, Waterways management

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I don’t know much about art …

Posted on Friday 18 May 2012 | Leave a comment

… but an excuse to talk about the working history of the Shannon is not to be dismissed. I’ll be at this event in Limerick on Saturday 26 May 2012, delivering a “brief and engaging presentation” (well, there’s got to be a first time for everything). If you’re interested in the sort of stuff this site covers, email the organisers to reserve a place.

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Posted in Built heritage, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Natural heritage, Operations, People, Politics, Shannon, shannon estuary, Steamers, The cattle trade, The turf trade, waterways

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Letterkenny canal

Posted on Wednesday 16 May 2012 | 5 comments

Letterkenny, in Co Donegal, has a Canal Road, but did it have a canal? If so, can anyone tell me anything about it?

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Sources, waterways

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Irish Times catches up …

Posted on Tuesday 15 May 2012 | Leave a comment

… with this site, reporting on both Seol Sionna and the gandalows, which were covered here and here.

 

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Posted in Built heritage, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, People, Restoration and rebuilding, Scenery, Shannon, shannon estuary, Steamers, The turf trade, Tourism, waterways

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Government stimulus

Posted on Monday 14 May 2012 | 3 comments

According to the Irish Times:

Ahead of the summit later this month, Government departments have been told to draw up lists of capital projects with potential to create thousands of jobs for which funding would be sought if EU leaders agree on the package at the meeting to be held a week before polling day here.

Will DAHG be able to resist the temptation of suggesting the Clones canal? I’m sure that, since it discovered the project was going to cost almost one third more than it had originally believed, it has had teams of economists busily reassessing its, er, viability (and I’m expecting a visit from the easter bunny at any moment) so it will have its “business case” ready.

Still, there’s a slightly more cheering take on the matter here, where Michael Taft suggests that the government won’t be able to get much money for “stimulus”. I like the idea of using project bonds for the Clones Canal, though it might be hard to show that it qualified as “key strategic EU infrastructure in transport, energy and broadband” despite the Irish state’s delusions.

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Posted in Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Foreign parts, Industrial heritage, Irish waterways general, Operations, Politics, Restoration and rebuilding, Ulster Canal, waterways, Waterways management

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Seol Sionna launch

Posted on Friday 11 May 2012 | Leave a comment

Seol Sionna under construction

The reproduction 25′ Shannon estuary hooker Seol Sionna will be launched at Querrin, Co Clare, on Saturday 19 May 2012, with celebrations continuing at Carrigaholt (home of the sublime Long Dock pub and eatery) on the following day [h/t dbm].

Canoe at Querrin. The second syllable of “canoe” rhymes with “go”

The pier at Querrin was built by the Shannon Commissioners; one of their marker stones (there are four at Querrin) is shown above.

Whaddya mean, you don’t know where Querrin is?

Remember, if the turf boats had not established the tourist traffic to Kilrush and Kilkee, the Shannon estuary steamers might never have got going and there might never have been a P&O line.

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Posted in Built heritage, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, People, Restoration and rebuilding, Scenery, shannon estuary, Sources, Steamers, The turf trade, Tourism, waterways

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Fairies, squirrels and steamers

Posted on Friday 11 May 2012 | 5 comments

I am grateful to Liam Kelly for sending me this photo of a steamer on the Shannon. He says that the photo is believed to show a steamer belonging to Lord Granard (Bernard Forbes, 8th Earl of Granard) passing through Lanesborough Bridge in 1900.

Here is a map showing Lanesborough and Castle Forbes.

Lanesborough and Lough Forbes (OSI ~1840)

And here is Castle Forbes shown in relation to Lough Forbes.

Castle Forbes and Lough Forbes (OSI ~1900)

According to a programme reproduced on page 200 of Ruth Delany’s The Shannon Navigation (Lilliput Press, Dublin 2008), Lord Granard (Right Hon the Earl of Granard, KP, GCVO) was Commodore of the 1929 Lough Forbes Regatta, held under the auspices of the North Shannon Yacht Club Flag and the Motor Yacht Club of Ireland. Page 197 of the same work has a photo of a North Shannon Yacht Club regatta on Lough Boderg in 1903; it includes a large steam yacht, but with a white rather than a black hull.

The Fairy Queen

Page 181 of the same work has a photo of a passenger steamer, the Fairy Queen, one of the six operated by the Shannon Development Company, which was set up in 1897: the Fairy Queen and the Shannon Queen worked the confined waters of the Shannon above Athlone. The same photo of the Fairy Queen can be seen here.

To my eye, the steamer in the Lanesborough photo looks rather like the Fairy Queen, although I don’t think I could go so far as to suggest that they are one and the same. They’re shown from different angles and, anyway, similarities between steamers of the same era are to be expected. The reason I comment on the matter is that, while looking into the history of the Fairy Queen, I found that the invaluable Clydebuilt Ships Database had a photo of the 1893 Fairy Queen that served on the Shannon (not to be confused with her 1897 replacement). And, again to my eye, the Fairy Queen in the Scottish photo does not seem to be the same as that in the Irish photo. I would welcome other people’s comments on the matter.

The squirrels

The story is here. There is more on the family’s collection of animals here.

 

 

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Natural heritage, Operations, Shannon, Steamers, Tourism, waterways

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Royal Canal: unprecedented speed

Posted on Thursday 10 May 2012 | Leave a comment

From the Freeman’s Journal of 5 December 1833:

The Broadstone, from The Tourist’s Illustrated Hand-Book for Ireland 3rd ed David Bryce, London 1854

 UNPRECEDENTED SPEED ATTAINED IN TRAVELLING UPON THE ROYAL CANAL

The Court of Directors of the Royal Canal hereby give Notice, that the present Day-Boat will cease running on Friday, the 6th, and that an Iron-Boat, capable of conveying Seventy Passengers, will leave the Broadstone harbour, at Nine o’Clock, on the Morning of Saturday, the 7th inst, for Mullingar, where it will arrive at Five o’Clock in the Evening; and Notice is further given, that at Nine o’Clock upon each Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, a Boat will leave Dublin for Mullingar, and return from thence at the same hour upon Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. By the foregoing arrangement a saving of three hours and a half will be effected. The Night-Boat will, for the present, continue to leave Dublin for Longford, each day, at Two o’Clock, and a Boat will depart from thence, for Dublin, each Morning, at Eleven o’Clock.

By Order,
SAMUEL DRAPER, Secretary.
Royal Canal-house, 2d Dec., 1833.

 

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Posted in Built heritage, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, waterways

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The Limerick Gandalow

Posted on Thursday 10 May 2012 | 2 comments

Bunratty Gandalow 2008

Gandalows (there are several spellings) are boats of the upper reaches of the Shannon Estuary. They come in several shapes and sizes and have been covered in several books. There is an opportunity to see some of them on the water, in Limerick, on Saturday 19 May 2012, when the ILEN School & Network for Wooden Boat Building has organised a day of talks and races. Full details here.

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Posted in Built heritage, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, Restoration and rebuilding, Shannon, shannon estuary, Water sports activities, waterways

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