Tag Archives: Shannon Commissioners

Clondra Lock

Posted on Monday 27 December 2010 | Leave a comment

The lock at Clondra may be the only one on the Shannon that is in the same place, and doing the same job, since the days of the Commissioners of Inland Navigation in the middle of the eighteenth century. The lock itself has been refurbished several times, and in recent years the lock furniture has been altered to make it impossible for boaters to work their own boats through it. But it has a very interesting collection of gear and it is well worth using, even if you’re not going to the Royal Canal at Richmond Harbour.

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Posted in Ashore, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Operations, Sources

Tagged Alcuin, Board of Works, boats, bridge, Camlin, canal, Clondara, Clondra, Cloondara, Cloondra, Commissioners for the Improvement of the Navigation of the River Shannon, Commissioners of Inland Navigation, Dúchas, Directors General of Inland Navigation, hydraulic, Ireland, lock, lock gear, Longford, Operations, OPW, quay, rack, Richmond Harbour, Royal Canal, Ruth Delany, Shannon, Shannon Commissioners, Tarmonbarry, vessels, water level, waterways, Waterways Ireland, weir

Who took the arch? A Shannon whodunnit

Posted on Wednesday 20 October 2010 | Leave a comment

O’Briensbridge is a village in Co Clare, islanded between the headrace of the Ardnacrusha hydroelectric power station and the River Shannon. Up to 1929 the river was the navigation between Limerick and Lough Derg (and eventually Dublin), and the bridge itself was something of an obstacle to navigation.

In 1832 the engineer Thomas Rhodes drew a sketch of the bridge with 14 arches, whereas nowadays it has only 12. We know when the seven arches on the Co Limerick side were reduced to six, but it has not been clear when an arch was removed from the Clare side. I think I know the answer; you can read it here.

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Posted in Ashore, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Irish inland waterways vessels, Irish waterways general, Operations, Scenery, Sources, Steamers

Tagged anchor, arch, boats, bridge, Brownrigg, cable, canal, capstan, Castleconnell, Charles Wye Williams, Clare, cot, delany, Emerson Tennant, ESB, floods, Hodges, Inglis, Inland Steam Navigation Company, Ireland, JK, Kierse, Killaloe, Limerick, lost, Lough Derg, Montpelier, O'Briensbridge, Operations, Parteen Villa Weir, quay, Rhodes, Shannon, Shannon Commissioners, steam, towing-path, towpath, trackway, vessels, water level, waterways

From the hearts of cranes

Posted on Wednesday 11 August 2010 | Leave a comment

Several ports on the Shannon Navigation have old cranes (or parts thereof), most of them nicely painted. Their age may not be apparent, but it is possible that they date back to the days of the Shannon Commissioners in the 1840s; at least one of them may be even older than that.

This page shows photographs of those cranes I know of, and discusses their possible ages. But there is much that remains unknown, and readers may be able to cast light on some of the mysteries.

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Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Irish waterways general, Operations, shannon estuary, Sources, Steamers, The turf trade

Tagged Ballylongford, Banagher, Bath Street Foundry, Board of Public Works, Board of Works, boats, bridge, canal, Carrick-on-Shannon, Clare, Clarke, Connacht Harbour, Connaught Harbour, Courtney & Stephens, Cow Island, foundry, Grand Canal Company, Haughtons Mills, Ireland, John Grantham, Kerry, Kilgarvan, Killaloe, Kirkland, Leitrim, Limerick, Liverpool, lock, Lough Derg, Mather Dixon, Offaly, Operations, Pete Brown, Portumna, quay, Ringsend, Saleen, Scarriff, Shannon, Shannon Commissioners, Shannon Navigation, Shannonbridge, Tipperary, turf, vessels, waterways, Waterways Ireland, Williamstown