On Wednesday 25 October 2017, at 7.00pm, Sandra Lefroy will be talking about the Phoenix, the (formerly steam-powered) vessel built in 1872, at the Malcolmson-owned Neptune Iron Works in Waterford, for Francis Spaight of Derry Castle on Lough Derg. The venue is the library in Killaloe, which is on the site of the lockhouse.
History afloat. The life and times of the Phoenix: a unique 1872-vintage heritage boat of Killaloe and Ballina
Now almost unique, the nineteenth-century Phoenix is one of the most historical boats in Ireland. She has been based in Killaloe for much of her life, mostly in the ownership of the Lefroy family. Sandra Lefroy will tell us something of the history of this wonderful craft, and what it is like to live on board a heritage vessel.
Irish waterways history 