Irish waterways history

John W Freeman of Donadea, near Naas, Co Kildare, has very kindly sent me a copy of his third book, Reflections through a Parish Window, which he published in November 2010, and tells me that he is at work on his fourth book. As usual, his third has several items of waterways interest from the land between the canals: Donadea is south of the Royal and north of the Grand.

John gives special thanks to Essie Conroy of Lowtown (19th Lock), who died in September 2010. There is an article (p111 et seq) about her grandparents, Murt and Mary Murphy; Murt, originally from Ballycowan near Tullamore, died in 1922 aged 73. The Lowtown section also includes photos of a model flyboat, the wooden canal boat 104B (Maid of Erin, owned by Roches of Tullamore) and Essie Conroy with one of Ted Barrett’s boats at Lock 19. Her husband John Conroy is pictured on p123.

There is a photo of another wooden canal boat at Lowtown. It has the name Ocean Star written across its stern and what look like horizontal wooden slots on both sides of the rudder. The crew are named as William Connolly and his son Patrick, with Thomas Murphy (Essie Conroy’s father) standing on the bow holding a rope.

Other Grand Canal items include a photograph of 31M at Landenstown (p56)  and two photos of Robertstown, one undated (p120) and the other taken in 1895 (p116). There is a photo of the Royal at Kilcock (p64), perhaps taken in the 1980s, and a short article about the Royal with a photo of Lock 1 (pp137–8). There is even a photo of Guinness Liffey barges of, I think, the first fleet (p68).

Perhaps the most surprising item is a photograph from the Irish Press of 23 October 1947 with this caption:

Propeller-driven “water-bike”, built by motor and cycle mechanic Patrick Kennedy, of Corduff, Co Kildare, to contact his clients in their village homes along the Grand Canal. Comfortably seated on the kitchen chair “tandem seat” is Christie Brereton, Patrick’s assistant, enlivening the pair’s progress with his accordion. These mechanics say that they will perfect this style of transport for river and lake travel.

The photograph is a little blurred, but the two men can be seen clearly, with Patrick in front clasping the handlebars. The structure of the craft seems to include at least two 40-gallon drums but the steering and propulsion methods are not specified. If anyone has any more information about this craft, do please leave a Comment below.

All in all, a lot of very interesting material once again, and I am looking forward to John’s fourth book.