Tag Archives: Barrow Line

While you’ve nothing else to do …

I came across a quiz I compiled in 2004 for the Athy Water Festival. Q6 no longer applies and I can’t guarantee that all of the others are still true, but here is it anyway.

  1. What is the taste of the town where a doleful damsel laments her armless boneless chickenless egg?
  2. What armless legless Barrow man did not have to be put out with a bowl to beg but was an enlightened landlord, “a Member of Parliament, Lord Lieutenant of the County Carlow, Member of the Privy Council of Ireland, magistrate, world traveller, yachtsman, sometime dispatch rider in the East India service, crack shot, keen fisherman” and  “a terror with the ladies”?
  3. What are the names of the aqueducts immediately above and below Vicarstown?
  4. What is the only Barrow lock with no corresponding weir?
  5. Where did the now-derelict canal branch from Monasterevan go to?
  6. What beer is named after a Barrow saint? [Carlow Brewing Company used to have a red ale named St Moling’s]
  7. How many bollards are there on each side of Lock 28 on the Barrow Line? [Maybe the number has changed since 2004]
  8. What is the name of the double lock on the Barrow?
  9. “A swan goes by head low with many apologies
    Fantastic light looks through the eyes of bridges
    And look! a barge comes bringing from Athy
    And other far-flung towns mythologies.” Said who?
  10. What two rivers enter the Barrow between Maganey and Bestfield Locks?

Tie-breaker: (a) Who composed “Five Locks on the Barrow”? (b) What are the five locks?

Leave your answers in the Comments below (if you like).

Grand Canal carrying 1816

GRAND CANAL

Reduction of Freights etc

B Hyland and Sons return their most grateful Thanks to their Friends and the Public, for the very flattering Encouragement they have received since their commencement in Business, above 20 years, and hope, that by their constant care and attention to merit a continuance thereof. They now take the opportunity of acquainting the Friends of their Trade, that all goods committed to their care, will be forwarded as usual, with the utmost expedition. Three of their Boats leave Dublin every week, for the conveyance of all kinds of Building Materials; Wines, Spirits, Porter, Tea, Sugar, Cotton Goods, and all kinds of Merchandize &c, at tge following reduced Prices, viz:

Dublin to Rathangan                                        8s 10d per Ton
Do. to Monastereven                                      10s    6d do.
Do. to Vicarstown                                            12s    4d do.
Do. to Athy                                                        14s    2d do,

They beg leave to state to their Friends and the Public that they have got each of their Boats Hatched (so that it is impossible for Goods to meet with the slightest injury) and each Hatch is properly iron barred, with cross bars of Iron, in the most secure manner, and the moment the Goods are put into each Boat, the Hatches are put on, and locked down with brass-warded Locks of the best description, and then sealed. Each of their Agents at the above-named Stages have counter keys to open the Boats to get out the necessary Goods that is for each place. They have also provided excellent Stores at each of the above Harbours, for the general accommodation of all those who are pleased to favour them with the carriage of their Goods.

They return their best thanks to the Grand Canal Company, for their having so kindly reduced their Tolls, by which means they are thus enabled to carry Goods at the above Rates, and also to carry all kinds of Goods, Flour, Meal, Malt, Corn, &c at the under-mentioned rate of Freight to Dublin, where three of their regular fast-sailing Boats arrive each week from the country.

Athy to Dublin                                                 12s   6d per Ton
Vicarstown to do.                                            11s    6d do.
Monastereven to do.                                      10s    6d do.
Rathangan to do.                                              8s  10d do.

Exclusive of the above arrangement they have also commenced plying another Boat drawn by two Horses, which Boat leaves Monastereven every Friday evening at Four o’Clock, and arrives in Dublin on the Saturday night following; this same Boat leaves Dublin every Tuesday morning at Five o’Clock, and arrives in Monastereven on the Wednesday evening following.

They hereby give notice, that any Grain or Corn that may come by their Boats, in bulk, to Dublin, will not be entitled to the above reduction of Freight; but if the Owners of such Grain or Corn, put it into Sacks, they will then be only charged at the above-mentioned Rates (so regulated and ordered by the Grand Canal Company).

They have also established Drays with Covers for the accommodation of their Customers in Dublin, and also in the Country, for the purpose of delivering all kinds of Goods that may be conveyed by their Boats to their respective Owners.

Samples are taken from all Wines and Spirits sent to their care, the instant they are laid down off the cars, in the presence of the Carrier, in small Vial Bottles, sealed, one of which is sent to the Owners, the other retained as a proof; and they are in all cases accountable.

Their Boat Agents are Mr Henry Farrell, at Rathangan; Mr John Coyle, at Monastereven; Mr Thomas Doyle, at Vicarstown; and Mr Michael Commins, at Athy; each of whom are purchasers of Grain, and will give the full value for Wheat, Bere, Barley, Oats and Rapeseed.

Wanted, 800 new Hemp Sacks of the best Irish Manufacture; each Sack must weigh 7 lb exactly standing beam.

They have always a large supply of the best KILKENNY COALS, on reasonable Terms.

Dublin Evening Post 12 September 1816

Canal fecundity

Mrs M’Cann, of Castlecomer, gave birth to two infant boys and a girl, in the canal fly boat from Athy to Dublin, on Monday.

Limerick Chronicle 3 March 1838

Just as well they were infants: giving birth to three teenagers would have been difficult.

Fares

We hear that the Committee of the Navigation Board, have settled the rates for passengers from Dublin to Monastereven and the intermediate places, as follows: to Hazel-hatch, eight miles, one shilling and a penny; to Sallins, fourteen miles, two shillings and two pence; to Monastereven, 31 miles, three shillings and nine pence halfpenny; steerage passengers half price.

Saunders’s News-Letter 19 August 1786

From the British Newspaper Archive run by Findmypast Newspaper Archive Limited, in partnership with the British Library.

Saving canals

Barrow Line 20140721 03_resize

Barrow Line 1

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Barrow Line 2

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Barrow Line 3

Barrow Line 20140721 09_resize

Barrow Line 4

When I get a moment, I must find out how many boats have been down that way in this warm, sunny July, the peak of the holiday season. The warmth will have encouraged the vegetation, but I suspect relatively few boats have been through. And only two boats entered the Royal through Dublin in July, even though two openings were offered.

Apart from giving artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative about the value of the canal tourist industry and the abiding love of boaters for the canal, using canals helps to keep the weed down.

 

Grand Canal bridge problems [updated]

Read about them here.

That’s not the Irish Grand Canal: it’s the one in Venice, the Monasterevan of the south.

There is a list of Santiago Calatrava’s bridges here, but information about his Irish bridges is lacking. Perhaps someone could send info about the James Joyce bridge and the Samuel Beckett bridge to The Full Calatrava.

Another iconic Calatrava achievement is described here [h/t Don Quijones].

Nothing in this post is intended to be insulting or degrading.

PS here’s a piece about another bridge being built in Foreign Parts, using a floating crane that even Bindon Blood Stoney might have been proud of.

Bell, book and candle …

… shall not drive me back, but something has driven boats from the Bell Harbour in Monasterevan, which I can’t recall seeing so empty: just one cruiser and one WI workboat.

Monasterevan May 2013 03_resize

Cruiser at the Bell Harbour

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WI workboat at the Bell Harbour

Actually, I’m not sure whether it is a WI workboat: I can’t see any logos or other ID on it.

WI canal permits

Latest update here. These are the main points.

Process

Applications for extended mooring permits at nine new locations will be available for two weeks from 19 November to 3 December 2012. The locations are Rathangan and Vicarstown on the Barrow Line (with a third stretch now at Vicarstown), two at Confey and one each at Cloondara and Lock 15 on the Royal and just one, Lock 34 to Griffith Bridge, on the Grand.

The schedule:

Applications for each set of locations are open for two weeks. Completed applications will be processed in order of receipt and mooring locations allocated. If availability exists after the application timeframe for a location has closed, late applications may be considered. Once all the extended mooring locations in an area have been allocated, no more extended mooring permits will be issued for that area in 2013. It is Waterways Ireland’s intention to complete the roll out of the extended mooring permit by March 2013.

That seems to be intended to get boaters to apply ASAP; otherwise they’ll be moored in the middle of nowhere for the rest of 2013.

The application process is set out in detail, with a new item.

From 16 November 2012 permits will no longer be issued by Lockkeepers, or the Eastern Regional Office. Permits will only be issued on completion of an application form submit to and processed by the Tullamore Office.

It is confirmed that applications must be accompanied by “copies of the insurance, and payment for the permit and a damage deposit”.

Downloads

There are four downloads: the application form [DOC] and a supplementary form for consortium members [also DOC], a sample 11-page EMP licence [not permit] agreement [PDF] and a 5-page guidance document [PDF]. A consortium is defined in the guidelines as a group of more than two people who own a single vessel. Owners of unpowered vessels are advised, but not required, to have insurance.

waste

The guidelines have a new item about disposing of rubbish:

Boat owners on the canals will be required to dispose of domestic rubbish at  their own expense. On the application form you need to indicate how you intend to manage this. For example, evidence of a paid collection service or by confirming that you will take your rubbish home and dispose of it through your domestic collection service.

In a limited number of locations Waterways Ireland may offer this service for a charge. Details of this will be notified when the area opens for extended mooring permit applications.

That is as I predicted in the last issue of Afloat.

And there is a paragraph about holding-tanks:

You are asked to tell us if your boat has an operational waste holding tank.  This is not a mandatory requirement, but information is being collected for management purposes.

The licence agreement says that owners have to clean up after dogs.

Here comes the BSC

From 2015 Waterways Ireland will be introducing the requirement for boats needing permits and wishing to use the canals to have a current hull survey to provide evidence that the boat is in good condition.

Not all boats will require this.

Your attention is being drawn to this requirement now to allow you time to prepare for 2015.

That’s from the guidelines document (join the queue now for the dry docks). And these bits are from the licence agreement:

The Licensee undertakes to have regular inspections of the gas and electric services of  his Boat as required to ensure these are kept in a safe and serviceable condition. […]

All Boats must carry adequate fire fighting equipment and have same serviced as per the manufacturer’s recommendations.

Insurance

The application form requires applicants to agree to this:

I/We hereby indemnify and shall keep indemnified Waterways Ireland from and against all actions proceedings costs claims demands and liabilities howsoever arising from my/our use of the facilities provided by Waterways Ireland on the Royal Canal, Grand Canal and Barrow Navigation and shall further indemnify and keep indemnified Waterways Ireland in respect of any accident, injury, loss or damage to any person or property howsoever arising including, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, where such accident injury loss or damage arises by reason of any matter or thing done or omitted to be done by me/us or person authorised by me/us or the purported exercise of such use.

I would welcome guidance on whether that might invalidate insurance policies.

Moorings are not transferable

If a Boat is sold it must be removed from the Mooring within seven days and the  Licensee must advise the Licensor’s Inspectorate. The new Boat owner will be required to make an application if they wish to avail of an extended mooring permit and Waterways Ireland will refund the balance pro rata of any fee paid for an extended mooring permit to the Boat owner less a fee of €50 to cover administration costs.

That’s from the draft licence.

Buy shares in Lowtown

Also from the draft licence.

It is not permitted to re-fuel Boats at an extended mooring.

Lots of exciting reading.

WI commercial operating licences

It’s getting hard to keep up with the amount of new regulatory information Waterways Ireland is producing (not that I’m complaining: it’s good that (a) systems exist and (b) information be made public). Today it has put up a page about commercial operating licences with downloadable PDFs for new applicants and for renewals.

WI says that

Waterways Ireland will give consideration to applications for permission to carry on commercial  operations on the waterways which would serve to encourage their use and contribute towards a vibrant waterway environment.

But getting a new licence is not easy. As well as describing the proposed business, you have to have registered the boat with WI and got a Passenger Certificate for from the Marine Surveyor’s office of the Department of Transport (which ain’t easy). If you want to sell alcohol, you have to have a Passenger Vessel
Licence from the Revenue Commissioners.

You have to provide a copy of your insurance policy:

Waterways Ireland requires that vessels carrying passengers hold adequate levels of insurance and appropriately indemnifies [sic] Waterways Ireland […].

And after that you have to show that your business has a chance of surviving:

Waterways Ireland is required to satisfy itself of the financial and economic standing of entities with whom it proposes to contract. In order to make this assessment, please provide relevant information such as recent accounts or Business Plan (including resources, financing, programme for delivery, target market, etc.).

And you have to supply a current Tax Clearance Certificate.

It seems that folk without capital (including working capital) need not apply.

More on WI and the canals

It says here:

A number of questions have been repeatedly posed since the initial communications about the Canal Bye-law Enforcement. These are listed below in the following categories. Click on the category to access the questions and answers.

Five downloadable PDFs on