Tag Archives: Shannon

A la recherche …

Posted on Tuesday 23 August 2011 | Leave a comment

… and the episode of the Madelen. Heavy lifting from the slipway at Cappa Pier, Kilrush, to Hog Island.

Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, People, Scenery, shannon estuary, waterways

Tagged boats, Cappa, Clare, estuary, Hog Island, Ireland, Kilrush, Limerick, Madelen, Operations, Scattery, Shannon, vessels, waterways, workboat

The drowning of the Celtic Tiger

Posted on Monday 22 August 2011 | Leave a comment

Valerie Anex’s photos of ghost estates, many on the Upper Shannon and the Shannon–Erne Waterway, are worth a look. Flash is required. Some more of them here, where you can see them in high resolution.

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Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Ireland, Irish waterways general, Operations, Politics, Scenery, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged builders, Celtic Tiger, ghost estates, Ireland, Keshcarrigan, Rooskey, Roosky, scenery, Shannon, Shannon–Erne Waterway, Valerie Anex, waterways

Buried at the crossroads …

Posted on Sunday 7 August 2011 | Leave a comment

… but without a stake through its heart. The Ulster Canal is dead, but it’s spinning in its grave. Its parent department has admitted some of the truth about its funding, but Waterways Ireland will be applying for planning permission for the scheme: there’s enough money for that, but not for digging. Nonetheless, Fine Gael TDs have managed to distract attention from the absence of funding by pointing to the planning application, while Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil have not realised that a scheme’s benefits should outweigh its costs. Return of the Son of the Ghost of the Bride of the Ulster Canal on view here.

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Posted in Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Operations, People, Politics, Restoration and rebuilding, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged Anglo-Celt, assets, budget, canal, Cavan, Clones, Dáil, Deenihan, Department of Community Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, Dublin, Erne, Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Heather Humphreys, Ireland, lost, Lough Neagh, McGinley, McLellan, minister, Monaghan, Operations, Shannon, Sinn Fein, Ulster Canal, waterways, Waterways Ireland

Pue’s Occurrences

Posted on Wednesday 20 July 2011 | Leave a comment

I’ve had an article accepted at the history blog. It’s about the capstan at O’Briensbridge on the old Limerick Navigation and the trade it facilitated. There is more information about the technicalities on my own page about O’Briensbridge.

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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, Restoration and rebuilding, Scenery, Sources, Steamers, The cattle trade, The turf trade, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged boats, bridge, capstan, Castleconnell, cattle, Clare, Dublin, ESB, floods, flow, Grand Canal, Ireland, Killaloe, Limerick, Liverpool, Lough Derg, Montpelier, O'Briensbridge, Operations, quay, Shannon, turf, vessels, water level, waterways

From the Dáil

Posted on Tuesday 19 July 2011 | Leave a comment

Questions – Northern Ireland Issues, Dáil Éireann Debate Vol. 729 No 2 Unrevised

Deputy Gerry Adams:

[…] The Taoiseach might update us on other flagship projects such as the Ulster Canal — at least, it was described as a flagship project at the time it was launched. […]

The Taoiseach:

[…] A number of issues were identified which clearly, from any political point of view, would be of interest and benefit to the infrastructure and the economies North and South. The Deputy mentioned some which have been under discussion for a long time. Were we not obliged to pay €3 billion to Anglo Irish Bank for the next ten years, it would be great to be able to tell the Deputy that the Government could now deal with the Ulster Canal or a number of other issues. Unfortunately, that is not the way it is at present. Consequently, from that perspective the Government will continue to commit itself to working diligently in the interests of the development of the economies North and South and, in consequence, of the entire island. […]

[…] Deputy Adams knows we could deal with the Ulster Canal and many other issues in the north west and elsewhere in the country if we did not have this imposition and burden, but that is a fact of life. […]

[Emphasis mine]

Northern Sound News Details Jul 07 2011

[…] The Project Co-Ordinator for the regeneration of the Ulster Canal says he is not concerned about the funding issue. Gerry Darby says he is still confident that the Ulster Canal regeneration is on track.

What is the basis for that confidence?

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Posted in Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Non-waterway, Operations, Politics, Restoration and rebuilding, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged Anglo Irish Bank, canal, Clones, Dáil, Department of Community Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, Enda Kenny, Erne, Gerry Adams, Gerry Darby, Ireland, Lough Neagh, Operations, Shannon, Ulster Canal, waterways, Waterways Ireland

OPW on the Shannon Estuary

Posted on Tuesday 19 July 2011 | Leave a comment

A brief note on the navigational interests of the Office of Public Works on the Shannon Estuary.

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Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Operations, Restoration and rebuilding, shannon estuary, Steamers, The turf trade, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged Adare, Ballylongford, Board of Works, bridge, Ireland, jetties, Kerry, Limerick, lost, Maigue, navigation authority, Office of Public Works, Operations, OPW, quay, Saleen, Shannon, turf, waterways, Waterways Ireland

The Junction Navigation

Posted on Thursday 14 July 2011 | Leave a comment

Here are some pages about the Junction Navigation in the Ballinamore & Ballyconnell drainage district. It later became known as the Ballinamore & Ballyconnell Canal and later still as the Shannon–Erne Waterway.

The role of the cads and bounders of the Ulster Canal Company in getting a canal built at taxpayers’ expense

The construction of the Junction Navigation at Aghoo (Lock 4)

Lock gear old and new

And here’s a reminder of an old page about the Belturbet-built dredger used in constructing the navigation.

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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, Operations, People, Politics, Restoration and rebuilding, Sources, Steamers, The cattle trade, The turf trade, Tourism, Water sports activities, waterways, Waterways management

Tagged aghoo, belfast, Belturbet, boats, bounders, bridge, cads, canal, Clones, Department of Community Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, drainage, dredger, Dublin, Erne, gear, Grand Canal, Ireland, Killaloe, Limerick, lock, Lough Neagh, Mahony, McMahon, Mulvany, Operations, paddle, rack, Royal Canal, Shannon, turf, Ulster Canal, vessels, water level, waterways, Williams

The Upper Shannon Renewal Scheme

Posted on Monday 4 July 2011 | 1 comment

The Irish state’s dedication to the interests of builders has been well discussed in Conor McCabe’s very readable Sins of the Father. That dedication is evident along the upper reaches of the River Shannon, where ludicrous tax incentives encouraged the building of ridiculous numbers of houses. Some of them are intended for colonies of white settlers, as at Dromod, but even allowing for holiday and retirement homes there are far more houses than will ever be used.

IrelandAfterNama discusses “Housing vacancy 1991-2011 in the Upper Shannon Renewal Scheme counties” here. It shows that by 2011 21.8% of houses in Longford were vacant, 22.1% in Cavan, 22.2% in Sligo, 23% in Roscommon and 30.4% in Leitrim. Some of those vacancies are actually holiday homes, and there are other caveats, but Rob Kitchin’s (measured) conclusion is:

All five counties show a marked increase in the housing vacancy level. Even allowing for obsolescence and replacement, and demand for holiday homes, it is clear that housing was being built in excess of demand and in response to the tax incentives (as clearly illustrated by Figure 5). The result is a significant oversupply of stock and a helping hand in the collapse of the banks (see Figure 6 for vacancy levels per ED).

I’d put it rather more strongly: the Upper Shannon Renewal Scheme was a gigantic waste of resources.

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Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Ireland, Operations, Politics, Scenery, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management