Tag Archives: Clare

Boating off piste

Posted on Saturday 3 November 2012 | Leave a comment

Coast Guard rescue between O’Briensbridge and Clonlara.

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Posted in Charles Wye Williams, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, People, Shannon

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A London pub and the history of the Shannon

Posted on Tuesday 23 October 2012 | 2 comments

Piloti’s “Nooks and Corners” column in the latest issue of Private Eye [No 1325] reports [brief extract available to non-subscribers here] that a London pub is threatened with demolition. On the Google satellite view with photos, press the button to the bottom right of the building to see a pic headed “Derelict pub”.

Piloti says that the pub was built in the 1840s [Diamond Geezer says 1839] and at that time the Marquis (or Marquess) was Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, KG, PC, FRS. The family’s main base was in Britain but they owned large estates in Ireland, notably in Counties Limerick and Kerry; certain roads in Dublin are also named after the family.

The late Marquis has two claims on the attention of Irish waterways enthusiasts. First, the best-known of the early River Shannon steamers, the Lady Lansdowne, was named after his wife. Second, he was Lord President of the Council [the current holder of the post is Nick Clegg] when the government of Her Late Majesty Queen Victoria decided, in 1839, to spend about half a million pounds improving the Shannon Navigation.

 

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Non-waterway, People, Politics, Restoration and rebuilding, Shannon, Sources, Steamers, The cattle trade, Waterways management

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The O’Briensbridge [non-]emergency

Posted on Friday 19 October 2012 | Leave a comment

The Irish Times today reports that

The Irish Coast Guard has issued an appeal to sailors and people who might fly aircraft about the safe handling of modern emergency locator equipment.

This follows an incident in which a badly stored aircraft emergency beacon sparked a massive search operation involving two helicopters and ground crews amid fears that a small aircraft had crashed.

Killaloe Coast Guard had covered the search in postings on 17 and 18 October 2012 here. It reported that

Killaloe Coast Guard Unit after over eight hours searching located three active emergency beacons, ELT’s in the O’Brien’s Bridge area.

 

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Posted in Ashore, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Irish waterways general, Non-waterway, Operations, Shannon, Sources

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Ardnacrusha

Posted on Wednesday 10 October 2012 | Leave a comment

Killaloe Coast Guard report here.

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Posted in Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish waterways general, Non-waterway, Operations, Shannon, waterways

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Tuamgraney’s claim to fame

Posted on Thursday 4 October 2012 | Leave a comment

TOOMGRANEY, situated in the county Clare, province of Munster; famous for the vagaries of a Sir William Read.—Fair days, Thursday after Trinity, and October 10.

Thus the Rev G Hansbrow in his An Improved Topographical and Historical Hibernian Gazetteer; describing the various boroughs, baronies, buildings, cities, counties, colleries, castles, churches, curiosities, fisheries, glens, harbours, lakes, mines, mountains, provinces, parishes, rivers, spas, seats, towers, towns, villages, waterfalls, &c &c &c, scientifically arranged, with an appendix of ancient names. To which is added, an introduction to the ancient and modern history of Ireland [Richard Moore Tims; William Curry, Jun and Co; John Robertson and Co, Dublin; King and Co, Cork; Marks, Waterford; Simms and Mairs, Belfast; Campbell, Derry; M’Kerin, Limerick; Wheelock, Wexford; Collins, Drogiieda; Dunlap, Coleraine; Purcel, Tralee; Kyte, Cashel; Blackham, Newry; Bole, Castlebar; Devir, Westport; and other booksellers; 1835].

Tuamgraney is on the Scarriff River, which flows into the west side of Lough Derg on the Shannon; it has a small quay on a sharp bend in the river.

 

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Posted in Ashore, Extant waterways, Ireland, People, Shannon, Sources, waterways

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Urination in Co Clare

Posted on Friday 21 September 2012 | Leave a comment

In County Clare, urination has a long and distinguished history. Here is a piece about one early example: while it was not on inland waters, I hope that the involvement of the Head Pacificator, renowned for his efforts to promote the Shannon, as well as of two authors who provide useful information about the river, will excuse the inclusion.

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Posted in Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Non-waterway, Operations, People, Politics, Scenery, waterways, Weather

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Praise for Kilrush

Posted on Wednesday 19 September 2012 | Leave a comment

Kilrush across the creek

It was highly gratifying to witness the animation that prevailed in Kilrush — the neatness of the little shops, the flagged pathway, and the absence of accumulated dirt, so prominent and offensive a peculiarity of most small towns in Ireland. The people about Kilrush (whose population is 5000) are handsome, and appear considerably more intelligent than in many other places.

Jonathan Binns The Miseries and Beauties of Ireland Vol II Longman, Orme, Brown and Co, London 1837

 

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, People, Politics, Scenery, Shannon, shannon estuary, Sources, Steamers, The cattle trade, The fishing trade, The turf trade, Tourism, waterways

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The Underpants Gnomes and the Shincliffe Traveller

Posted on Thursday 6 September 2012 | Leave a comment

Here is an article from 1792 about the virtues of the River Shannon. It was written by an unidentified Traveller from Shincliffe, near Durham. It is interesting as an earlyish example of the Irish waterways cargo cult which, it has been pointed out to me, resembles the business plan of the underpants gnomes.

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Posted in Ashore, Drainage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Ireland, Natural heritage, Operations, People, Politics, Scenery, Shannon, shannon estuary, Sources, The cattle trade, Tourism, waterways

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Raising the dead

Posted on Wednesday 5 September 2012 | Leave a comment

North Tipperary LEADER Partnership (lead), Clare Local Development Co. and Galway Rural Development Co. intends to contract an individual or company with relevant experience who will work in conjunction with the Lough Derg Marketing Strategy Group to identify tourism projects that would be eligible for funding under the Rural Development Programme. The aim, through animation and capacity building, is to assist the tourism sector in the three regions with the supports they require to develop Lough Derg as a key destination for water based activities combined with a range of very high quality walking, cycling, heritage and culture and food experience.

More info here; not sure whether you need to register to see it.

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Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish waterways general, Operations, Politics, Scenery, Shannon, Tourism, Water sports activities, waterways, Waterways management

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Bring back the Black

Posted on Friday 17 August 2012 | Leave a comment

The Black Bridge at Plassey has been closed since the floods of November 2009. Its reopening seems to have a low priority; I suspect that is because the importance of the bridge in Ireland’s technological, economic, entrepreneurial and political history is not widely appreciated. Here is a page explaining some of the background and suggesting a context within which reopening might be justifiable.

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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, Irish waterways general, Natural heritage, Operations, People, Restoration and rebuilding, Scenery, Shannon, shannon estuary, Sources, Steamers, The cattle trade, The turf trade, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management, Weather

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