Tag Archives: Clare

The UCD School of Archaeology has, for many years, been investigating the Fergus estuary and has found remarkable evidence of settlement and activities on the estuary stretching back to the Iron Age (about 100 BCE) and the Bronze Age (almost 800 BCE). Read about the project here and see more photos of mediaeval fishweirs and earlier artefacts here.

The photo above is used in accordance with the terms set out here.

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Natural heritage, Operations, People, Scenery, shannon estuary, Sources, The cattle trade, The fishing trade, waterways, Waterways management, Weather

Tagged Aidan O'Sullivan, archaeology, boats, Clare, estuary, Fergus, fishweir, Ireland, mediaeval, Operations, quay, Shannon, UCD, vessels, water level, waterways, weir

Mountshannon

Posted on Saturday 5 January 2013 | Leave a comment

In the Foreword to his latest book, Portraits of Mountshannon (East Clare Heritage, Tuamgraney 2012), Ger Madden writes of the changes to Mountshannon since 1993:

The Aistear, the children’s playground, the pre-school building, the floating jetties at the harbour, additional restaurants and shops have been hugely positive and successful. The same cannot be said for housing. Ten years of reasonable prosperity for some, has resulted in new private holiday homes built on the fringes of the village and others planned. They are not associated with the needs of the community. The majority of the owners have not the slightest interest in the history, culture or welfare of the community they have chosen to display their wealth.

Any such owners wishing to develop an interest in the history of Mountshannon could not do better than to start with Ger’s book. It’s A4 landscape, with an aerial colour photo of Mountshannon on the front and a map on the back. Inside, the foreword gives a brief overview of Mountshannon’s history. Then follow 52 pages, each with a black and white photo and each covering a building, a tree or a place of interest in and around Mountshannon. Their locations are shown on the map on the back cover.

But, although architectural information is provided, the book is not about the buildings per se. Each page is a window into Mountshannon’s history and, together, they provide a rich account of the place and its people over the centuries. Part of the interest is in the fact that buildings you might pass by without noticing turn out to have interesting stories attached to them. Nor are they all about the distant past: I was glad to see that Mountshannon’s more recent claim to fame, as the last telephone exchange in the country to be automated, was recognised here (although I suppose that too may seem like the distant past to younger readers).

I highly recommend the book. If you’re in the area, you’ll probably know better than I where to get copies; if you’re not, you might ask East Clare Heritage.

Ger runs boat trips to Holy Island during the summer.

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Irish waterways general, Natural heritage, Operations, People, Scenery, Shannon, Sources, Steamers, The cattle trade, Tourism, waterways

Tagged boats, Clare, East Clare, Ger Madden, Holy Island, Ireland, Lough Derg, Mountshannon, Shannon, Tuamgraney

The end of an era

Posted on Saturday 5 January 2013 | Leave a comment

Ger Reid, the Ardnacrusha lockkeeper, retired at the end of December 2012. Ger has guided many boats through the locks over the years and has always been cheerful and reassuring as well as informative, helpful, reliable and competent. He will be sadly missed but I wish him well in his retirement.

Meanwhile, I have heard that Limerick City Council has decided not to renew Pat Lysaght’s contract for work on the river and has suggested that Waterways Ireland should retain him. Pat’s most important role, though, in assisting boats passing through Limerick (220 in 2012), has always been voluntary. Were Pat to cease to provide that service, I think the number of boats visiting Limerick would be greatly reduced.

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Posted in Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Irish waterways general, Natural heritage, Operations, People, Shannon, shannon estuary, Tourism, waterways, Weather

Tagged Ardnacrusha, boats, bridge, canal, Clare, ESB, estuary, Ger Reid, Hunt Museum, Ireland, Killaloe, Limerick, Limerick City Council, lock, Lough Derg, Operations, Pat Lysaght, pilot, Shannon, vessels, water level, waterways, Waterways Ireland, workboat

Melancholy loss of life on the River Shannon

Posted on Wednesday 2 January 2013 | 1 comment

Last Wednesday we were witness to a most melancholy spectacle. We saw three bodies floating on that part of the river Shannon which lies opposite to Castle Lough, in this county. Having rowed in to shore, we gave notice to some persons there, who, without hesitation, prepared themselves, and joined in the sad task of snatching from the watery element the livid bodies of three unfortunate fellow creatures. When we stretched them on the bank they were recognised by one of the Steam Packet Company to be the bodies of Thomas Minshoe, George Halbert, and Robert Williams, three of the unfortunate five that were drowned some few days ago, while on a party of pleasure. The bodies were far advanced in a state of putrefaction and were a revolting spectacle to look on.

A messenger being despatched to Nenagh for the coroner, James Carroll, Esq, that officer, with his usual promptness, reached here in a short time; and having empanelled a jury, “Accidentally drowned during a squall” was the verdict.

It appeared from evidence that the deceased, with others, left Killaloe on Sunday, the 20th ult, for the purpose of having a day’s amusement on the Upper Shannon. They put in at Castle Lough to take refreshment; during the time they were on shore, the wind freshened and blew a gale, upon which they determined to leave the boat at anchor, and proceed home by land, which they accordingly did. On the following morning they returned and found that the ropes, which were for the purpose of lowering the sails, had been stolen. The day being fine and the weather not likely to change, they made light of the inconvenience, and ventured homeward.

After hoisting sails and reaching the centre of the river (which, at this point, is not two miles broad), a squall came on. Having endeavoured in vain to lower sails, which was completely impracticable, on account of the loss of the ropes, the boat suddenly ducked beneath the weight of canvass, and consigned the poor fellows to an early grave. Thomas Minshoe and George Halbert are natives of Liverpool, and Williams from Wales.

No coffins being convenient, three fishermen were appointed to watch the bodies on the shore until the next day. When we saw them coffined, we observed that the ear had been eaten off Williams by, we suppose, a dog, and a part of Minshoe’s left leg. They were interred at Killaloe on the afternoon of Thursday.

1 September 1837

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Posted in Ashore, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, People, Scenery, Shannon, Sources, Steamers, The cattle trade, Tourism, Water sports activities, waterways, Weather

Tagged boats, Castle Lough, Clare, drown, Halbert, Ireland, Killaloe, Liverpool, Minshoe, Operations, Shannon, Steam Packet, steamer, vessels, Wales, waterways, Williams

Where is this?

Posted on Monday 31 December 2012 | 14 comments

Paul Gauci’s 1831 drawing of a Shannon steamer

This drawing of a steamer is from an 1831 book called Select Views of Lough Derg and the River Shannon by Paul Gauci. I haven’t seen the book myself, but this illustration is used in a couple of places, including Ruth Delany’s book The Shannon Navigation [The Lilliput Press Ltd, Dublin 2008]. Andrew Bowcock, in his article “Early iron ships on the River Shannon” in The Mariner’s Mirror Vol 92 No 3 August 2006, says of the steamer shown that

The funnel looks to be almost over the paddle shaft, which is artistic license.

But my question is not about the vessel but about the house in the background. If it is drawn without artistic licence, where is it?

It is a very large house, seven bays by three storeys, quite close to the water. Using the Historic 6″ Ordnance Survey map [~1840], I have followed the banks of the Shannon from Shannon Harbour down Lough Derg to Killaloe, then from Limerick down the estuary as far as Tarbert, across the estuary to Doonaha and back up on the Clare side to Limerick, then from Killaloe up the Clare and Galway shores back to Shannon Harbour. Anywhere I found a large house within what seemed the right distance of the shore, I looked it up in the Landed Estates Database and in the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, with some supplementary googling.

I haven’t been able to find images of all the houses marked on the OSI map, but I found enough to show that houses of the size shown by Gauci were very rare. Within those few, I ruled out some (like Tervoe) because they didn’t seem to match Gauci’s drawing (although alterations could have accounted for that). I ended up with only one house that looked at all like Gauci’s, but the background may not match.

If you can identify the house, I would be glad if you could leave a Comment below.

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Non-waterway, Operations, People, Scenery, Shannon, shannon estuary, Sources, Steamers, The cattle trade, Tourism, waterways