Tag Archives: ESB

Shannon eels

Posted on Wednesday 20 June 2012 | Leave a comment

I have a page about the Shannon eel fishery here.

In April 2012 Frank Feighan TD asked many Dáil questions about the Shannon eel fishery; the answers provide a useful update to (and expansion of) the information on my page.

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish waterways general, Natural heritage, Operations, People, Politics, Shannon, shannon estuary, Sources, The fishing trade, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged bridge, canal, Clare, department of arts heritage and the gaeltacht, eels, ESB, estuary, Frank Feighan, Ireland, Killaloe, Lough Derg, Lough Neagh, Operations, Pat Rabbitte, Shannon, waterways, weir, workboat

Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang

Posted on Sunday 10 June 2012 | 1 comment

The old Limerick Navigation included a section of canal at Killaloe, with three locks. The uppermost, now disused, is still visible at Killaloe; the middle lock (Moys) is accessible by small boat; the third (Cussaun) is under water in the Flooded Area created by Parteen Villa Weir. The wall that divided the canal from the river downstream of Killaloe bridge forms an island whereon are the former eel-packing station run by the ESB, the former goods store (inhabited by Waterways Ireland) and the former marble mill (now an ESB engineering works). The island hosts the Killaloe market on Sunday mornings.

The curious can (obstructions permitting) walk a little further downstream to where the wall was breached, allowing boats to access the canal below the bridge without having to go as far as Moys Lock.

An obstruction

A section of the canal below the bridge in Killaloe ~1900 (OSI)

The west side of the canal, below the slip, was lined with trees.

The trees

May 2008

November 2008

November 2008, with homemade boat shelter

The trees behind the marble mill: seen from the far side of the river in December 2009

August 2010

A fallen tree blocks the canal in December 2010

April 2011

November 2011

Waterways Ireland Marine Notice 86 of 2011

MARINE NOTICE No. 86 of 2011
Shannon Navigation
Lough Derg
Killaloe Canal

Canal Maintenance – Tree Cutting

Waterways Ireland wishes to advise all masters and owners of vessels that tree cutting will take place along the Killaloe Canal banks from the vicinity of the cathedral downstream to the lower entrance from the river
Shannon, from Monday 19th Sep until about mid Oct.

Access to this section of the canal will be closed during this period. […]

Marine Notice 24/2012 of 16 March 2012 said

Works are still ongoing along the Killaloe Canal banks from the vicinity of the Cathedral downstream to the lower entrance from the river Shannon.

Access to this section of the canal will be closed until further notice.

That notice has not (as of 10 June 2012) been withdrawn so it must be assumed that the works continue.

Cad a dhéanfaimid feasta gan adhmad?

The works photographed on 10 June 2012.

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Posted in Ashore, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Natural heritage, Operations, Scenery, Shannon, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged bridge, canal, Clare, ESB, Ireland, Killaloe, Limerick, lock, lost, Lough Derg, marble mill, Operations, quay, Shannon, trees, Waterways Ireland

A problem in trigonometry

Posted on Thursday 26 April 2012 | 2 comments

I mentioned the other day that extensive searches of tinterweb had failed to find any data on the heights of overhead power lines above the Shannon and that I had been forced to resort to the telephone.

I am pleased to report that the ESB expert duly rang me back today, and further pleased to report that he had himself measured the height of every cable over the Shannon. Oh joy, oh happiness, I thought. But not for long.

The ESB, it seems, does not reveal the actual height of power lines above the water. This, if I understood the reasoning correctly, is because the water level varies and a boat-owner might not understand that, hit a line with a mast and then sue the ESB [where “ESB” means “electricity transmission or distribution operation”]. I have been told that a boat-owner in coastal water did just that (presumably between the mainland and an island) and that the lawyers have advised ESB to take no further risk; I would welcome information about the incident.

So, if you want to find the height of a power line, you’ll need to polish up your trigonometry (and then relate the height to Ordinary Summer Level). But the ESB does supply the information to one organisation that makes charts: the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office. That’s OK for coastal charts, but the UKHO (to the best of my knowledge) has not surveyed the inland Shannon since 1839, and I don’t think its inland charts have been updated since then. It is possible, of course, that the UKHO supplies the data to other (electronic or paper) chart-makers; I have emailed them to ask.

The quest continues again. More info when I get it.

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, Politics, Shannon, shannon estuary, Sources, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged boats, clearance, ESB, height, Ireland, Lough Derg, Operations, OSL, overhead power line, Shannon, transmission, vessels, water level, waterways

Power to the people

Posted on Wednesday 25 April 2012 | 1 comment

So you’re out in your sailing-boat, heading for Portumna, and you see that there’s an electricity cable crossing the waterway ahead of you, just downstream of the bridge. You think you’ll fit under it but it would be nice to know the clearance ….

Electricity is ESB, isn’t it? Well, perhaps not: it could be ESB Networks, which seems to mean distribution, or EirGrid, which means transmission. It could also be one of the other companies that sells volts, but I don’t think they run big wires.

Half an hour of searching the websites of the three bodies failed to produce anything about the heights of pylons or cables or overhead powerlines. Safety advice said not to go near them, but that’s what you are trying to do: it would help to know how near is near. Another half an hour of general googling; still no result.

So, as it’s a smallish line on wooden poles, rather than a large one on very tall steel pylons, you guess that it might be distribution rather than transmission, and thus ESB Networks rather than EirGrid.

I rang; someone will ring back within 48 working hours. The quest continues ….

What is the magic combination of search terms that will find the heights above water of all power lines over Irish waterways?

1 Comment

Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Ireland, Operations, Shannon, Sources, waterways

Tagged boats, distribution, ESB, Ireland, Lough Derg, mast, Operations, power line, Shannon, transmission, waterways, yacht

Great Island and Tarbert

Posted on Sunday 15 April 2012 | Leave a comment

The waterway power stations are back in the news again.

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Ireland, Non-waterway, Operations, Shannon, Suir, waterways

Tagged Endesa, ESB, estuary, Great Island, power station, Shannon, Suir, Tarbert, waterways

Killaloe eel fishery

Posted on Thursday 5 April 2012 | 3 comments

Text of aD in Limerick Leader seen on 5 April 2012

Conservation of Silver Eels on the River Shannon

Expressions of interest are invited from all interested parties to assess eligibility for a competitive tender process to award Silver Eel Operations contract on the River Shannon at ESB Eel Weir Killaloe, Co Clare.

To be eligible for consideration interested parties must have:

the appropriate eel fishing experience ;
knowledge of the River Shannon and Killaloe region as applicable;
suitable certified equipment;
appropriate insurances;
tax certificates, if appropriate;
Training records
other documentation as may be deemed necessary by ESB.

To register your interest, please contact:

ESB Fisheries Conservation,
Ardnacrusha Generating Station,
Limerick, Co.Clare

before 16.00hrs on Friday 13th April 2012.

Phone: 061 350598/350538; Fax 061 344560
Email: tom.obrien1@esb.ie

================================

Lough Derg water

Posted on Friday 9 March 2012 | 1 comment

The lake level seems to be down about a foot. Two rumours purport to account for this: either (a) the powers-that-be want us to get used to a new, lower level, so that we won’t notice when Dublin starts extracting water, or (b) the ESB is generating as much electricity as it can before it starts getting charged for water. Such charges would be covered by the same European Commission reasoned opinion as that mentioned here that might see Waterways Ireland being charged to fill the Grand, Royal and SEW.

Or, of course, it could just be that there hasn’t been much rain. According to Met Éireann’s seasonal summary for winter 2012 [two-page PDF]:

Majority of rainfall totals were below normal for winter across the southern half of the country and in some parts of the east. Rainfall totals were below average in the majority of these parts during December and January, while all stations reported dry conditions in February. Most stations the east and south reported a below average number of wetdays (days with 1 mm or more) and the driest winter since 2006 (6 years).

Ardnacrusha usually runs fewer turbines in summer.

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish waterways general, Non-waterway, Operations, Politics, waterways, Waterways management, Weather

Tagged Dublin, ESB, Grand Canal, Ireland, Lough Derg, Royal Canal, Shannon-Erne Waterway, waterways, Waterways Ireland

Date

Posted on Friday 2 March 2012 | Leave a comment

Killaloe & Ballina are having one of Waterways Ireland’s Discover Days on Sunday 29 April 2012.

Includes “visitor attractions, water activities, arts and crafts, face painting, live music, a historical walking tour, boat trips and other land and water activities”.

More info as it becomes available.

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

Tagged boats, bridge, canal, ESB, Ireland, Killaloe, lock, Operations, Shannon, waterways, Waterways Ireland

Killaloe bridge

Posted on Wednesday 8 February 2012 | Leave a comment

More on the new bridge here with the full public notice here [PDF]. Interesting to see how many of the names of landowners are known to me.

I see on page 6 of the notice that the ESB owns two rivers, which are occupied by the ESB, Waterways Ireland, the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland and other unknown persons. There is a canal, whose owners are unknown, which is occupied by WI, IWAI and the persons unknown, as is an island. I do hope that the council will return the canal, rivers and island when they’ve built the bridge.

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Natural heritage, Non-waterway, Operations, Politics, Restoration and rebuilding, Shannon, Steamers, The cattle trade, The turf trade, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged Ballina, boats, bridge, canal, Clare, ESB, Fort Henry, Ireland, island, Killaloe, Limerick, lock, Moys, quay, road, Shannon, Shantraud, Tipperary, vessels, waterways, Waterways Ireland

Killaloe and Ballina

Posted on Friday 27 January 2012 | Leave a comment

Nice to see they’re going to get a Discover Day.

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Irish waterways general, Non-waterway, Operations, People, Politics, Scenery, Shannon, Steamers, The cattle trade, Tourism, Water sports activities, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged Ballina, boats, bridge, canal, Clare, discover day, ESB, floods, Ireland, jetties, Killaloe, Limerick, lock, lost, Lough Derg, Operations, quay, Shannon, turf, vessels, waterways, Waterways Ireland, weir

Tag Archives: ESB

Shannon eels

Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang

The trees

Waterways Ireland Marine Notice 86 of 2011

Cad a dhéanfaimid feasta gan adhmad?

A problem in trigonometry

Power to the people

Great Island and Tarbert

Killaloe eel fishery

Text of aD in Limerick Leader seen on 5 April 2012

Lough Derg water

Date

Killaloe bridge

Killaloe and Ballina

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