Big it up for the Irish Amateur Rowing Union (aka Rowing Ireland), which will be descending the Lower Shannon in May. Good to see that they’ll be doing the estuary, as fas as Bunratty, and are not confining themselves to non-tidal waters.
Bunratty
F E Prothero would be proud of them: he himself thought it best to see the estuary from the deck of the steamer to Kilrush.
L & M Keating, contractors, are currently working on Portumna Bridge, Killaloe flood gates and Shannon Harbour houseboat moorings. Some info and pics here, with links to info on some projects.
Minerva battling the current above Meelick
If you own Minerva, and would like a 5MB version of the photo, leave a Comment below.
Posted in Extant waterways, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, Weather
Tagged boats, floods, Ireland, Meelick, Minerva, Shannon, waterways
Added an 1879 drawing of a Shannon cot here.
Posted in Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, People, Weather
Tagged boats, cot, floods, Ireland, Shannon, turf, waterways, workboat
How they got the dredgers past the distillery in 1857. No pics, alas, but it’s worth using the links to the OSI maps.
Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Irish inland waterways vessels, Irish waterways general, Operations, People
Tagged Athassel, Ballinamore and Ballyconnell Canal, barge, Belturbet, boats, bridge, canal, Clones, drainage, dredger, Erne, floods, Gowna, Grand Canal, Ireland, lost, Lough Oughter, Mulvany, Operations, Portlaw, scow. pump, Shannon, Shannon–Erne Waterway, vessels, water level, waterways, weir, workboat
Thanks to Sam and Brian Grubb, I have been able to put up some photos, taken in 1930, of Parteen Villa Weir. The scanning of the photos was done at such high resolution that it is possible to see several vessels moored in the headrace below the weir.
Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations
Tagged 1930, Ardnacrusha, barge, boats, canal, Castleconnell, Clare, ESB, Grubb, Ireland, Killaloe, Limerick, lock, Lough Derg, Montpelier, O'Briensbridge, Operations, Parteen Villa Weir, Shannon, vessels, waterways, weir, workboat
An article in the Irish Times about railway restoration has prompted me to set out my views on waterways restoration. Essentially, I don’t believe public funds should be spent on projects that won’t provide a decent return, but I do favour small-scale conservation, opening up walking and cycling routes along waterways and marketing them to industrial heritage enthusiasts (and others).
Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Irish waterways general, Non-waterway, Rail
Tagged Ardnacrusha, artefacts, Athenry, boats, Brendan Quinn, bridge, Burma Road, Bus Eireann, canal, Castleconnell, CIE, Clones, conservation, Department of Community Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, Department of Finance, Enda Kenny, Ennis, Erne, ESB, Galway, Grand Canal, greenway, Iarnrod Eireann, industrial heritage, Ireland, Killaloe, lakelands and inland waterways, Limerick, Limerick Navigation, lock, lost, Lough Allen Canal, Lough Derg, Lough Neagh, Montpelier, N18, O'Briensbridge, Operations, Parteen Villa Weir, Plassey, Plassey-Errina Canal, Royal Canal, Shannon, Shannon-Erne Waterway, Ulster Canal, Waterford Limerick & Western Railway, waterways, Waterways Ireland, Western Rail Corridor, Western Railway Corridor
I’ve moved most of the original contents of this post to Ulster Canal 13.
I mentioned elsewhere that the Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs is known to some people as Craggy Island. Wikipedia tells us that
The real Craggy Island seen from helicopter shots is Inisheer.
And we learn in today’s Irish Times that Craggy Island is helping to provide subsidised electric cars on the Aran Islands including Inisheer (Inis Oirr), the “real Craggy Island”.
My most recent email to the Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs about the funding of the canal has not yet had a response.
My Freedom of Information request to the Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs about the funding of the canal has been acknowledged.
Posted in Economic activities, Extant waterways, Industrial heritage
Tagged boats, canal, Clones, day boat, Department of Community Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, Erne, funding, hire boat, Ireland, Lough Allen, Lough Neagh, marina, Shannon, Shannon–Erne Waterway, trip boat, Ulster Canal, waterways, Waterways Ireland
I’ve set up a new page on which I intend to collect pics showing older Irish inland (and estuarial) working boats. I’ve started it off with a copy of the posting (below) about Portobello and a photo of a yawl at Clonmel; this is a page that will have material added as I come across it.
Posted in Economic activities, Extant waterways, Forgotten navigations, Industrial heritage, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations
Tagged barge, boats, bridge, canal, canal boat, Carrick-on-Suir, Clonmel, Grand Canal, horse-drawn, Ireland, lighter, Operations, Portobello, Shannon, Suir, vessels, workboat, yawl
I have started a new section on People. So far, the top-level page links only to the first entry, which is for Major Rowland Raven-Hart OBE, whose Canoeing in Ireland, published in around 1938, is a short guide to canoeing on several of Ireland’s longer rivers, including the Shannon, the Erne, the Suir, the Barrow and the Munster Blackwater.
I have added such information about Major Raven-Hart as I have been able to find.
Posted in Extant waterways, Irish waterways general, Scenery, Sources, Water sports activities
Tagged Bann, Barrow, Blackwater, boats, Boyne, bridge, canoe, Canoe Errant, Carlingford, Erne, flow, Foyle, Ireland, Killaloe, Killarney, Liffey, Limerick, Lough Corrib, Lough Derg, Lough Gill, Lough Mask, Lough Neagh, Nore, portage, Raven-Hart, Shannon, Slaney, Strangford, Suir, waterways
Irish waterways history