Monday, 23 November 2015

The Park Canal - Why it should not be restored

other sites of interest about conferencing regarding irelands inland waterways

http://irishwaterwayshistory.com/category/unbuilt-canals/

http://irishwaterwayshistory.com/tag/longford/

http://heritageboatassociation.ie/cms/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=627

http://irishwaterwayshistory.com/rants/the-park-canal-why-it-should-not-be-restored/

https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/

http://irishwaterwayshistory.com/rants/the-park-canal-why-it-should-not-be-restored/

history of transport on the Grand Canal
https://www.google.ie/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=history%20of%20use%20of%20canals%20in%20limerick

Blueways on the Shannon - Development of the River Shannon for Recreation
http://www.bluewaysireland.org/blueways/shannon

Working as crew on the canals

‘A river to hell’: working on Ireland’s inland waterways

Published in 18th-19th Century Social Perspectives, 18th–19th - Century History, Features, Issue 1 (Jan/Feb 2010),Volume 18

The crew of the St Brigid at Limerick Harbour Canal c. 1950.

From its inception the story of Irish canals was laden with tragedy. Men close to starvation laboured for a few pence a day to dig them, and barge masters sailed fully armed against a backdrop of simmering hostility.
Guinness was the major customer of the Grand Canal Company (GCC). In the 1800s they undercut local breweries along the entire canal navigation route, driving competitors out of business. The GCC engaged thereafter in a protracted battle with rival rail and road transport for the best delivery schedules. It was barge crews who paid the price. Poor working conditions led to poor health, apathy and alcoholism. Barge operator Danny Baker described it aptly as ‘a river to hell’.

Tools of the trade

Gussy McGrath (foreground) and fellow storemen at the Guinness warehouse at Limerick Harbour Canal c. 1950.

The crew of a typical barge consisted of four men, who slept in bunks in the bow section. There were watertight bulkheads but this feature didn’t guarantee immunity from sinking. Fully loaded, the barges often scraped the bottoms of the canals and needed support from tugs to cross the lakes. They carried a ballast of stone, sometimes up to 2,000 concrete bricks or even steel railway lines. In squalls the barges, which had very low drafts and were scarcely two feet above the water, could be easily swamped. Navigating a barge therefore required an excellent knowledge of the craft’s limitations and a fair degree of nerve. The most commonly used engine was the Bolinder. Although extremely reliable, under the wrong conditions it could be a death-trap. The problem inherent in the Bolinder design was its low horsepower (15hp), which meant that barges took four and a half days to reach Dublin from the Shannon at only 4mph. Built by two Swedish brothers as an improvement on the failed four-cylinder Scott Sterling engine (1910), there was no gearbox and using the throttle was a hit-and-miss affair. Early craft used low-cost steel cladding, only three-eighths of an inch thick, which was too easily breeched in collisions—officially termed ‘directional incidents’. These were common at night where neither barge was carrying lamps or where a ‘sandcot’ or smaller craft was struck by a barge racing into harbour.

Working conditions

Despite the common misconception, barges were not comfortable floating homes. Some skippers had their own quarters, but ‘greasers’ (the term given to apprentices learning their trade), the enginemen and deckmen all shared quarters. Many greasers lost their jobs after a strike in 1942, although hours were reduced slightly, with men now starting work at 6am instead of midnight. The working pattern was for a long run to be followed by a short run. The long run had fewer stops and thence less loading along the route, but crews were exposed to severe fatigue. Cargoes were as diverse as they were dangerous—sugar beet for the Carlow sugar factory and asbestos from Athy. In the latter case the dangers were then unknown and no protective clothing was provided. Before 1946 work was ‘24/7’, with crews working sixteen-hour days, sleeping on the barge and finding it next to impossible to see their families. Their boats carried timber barrels of porter, later replaced by aluminium ‘iron lungs’. The decks often held up to 300 half-barrels or 350 firkins. Caught in a squall, the combination of low power output, shallow draft and shifting loads could prove fatal.

Accidents and closure
By far the worst accident occurred on 1 December 1946, when three men on board the 45M were drowned on Lough Derg. The weather was rough and the doomed vessel at first pulled into Kilgarvan and two hours later into Garrykennedy. Ironically, it was the arrival of the St James, a tugboat used to pull the barges across Lough Derg, that sealed her fate. The crew, which now included a passenger named Jimmy McGrath, took a chance that virtually all crews took at one time or another and set out for their destination. As they rounded the notorious Parker’s Point and headed out into the lake proper, four winds rose up, creating a phenomenon known as ‘boxing swells’. The St James pulled the barge directly into the rising waves and she was swamped. The crew of the tugboat cut the tow-rope with an axe in order to prevent their own vessel from capsising. Jack Boland, the driver, was found dead on the shore. Tony O’Brien made it to a farmhouse and survived. Ned Boland’s body was discovered some three months later, and it was assumed that Jimmy McGrath went down with the vessel. In 1975 the 45M was raised from the bed of Lough Derg, where she had lain on a ledge in the interim period in remarkably good condition. There was no sign, however, of Jimmy McGrath.
In 1930 Dan Logan from Robertstown and Jack Grace from Blackwood died of suffocation when the portholes were closed on a cold winter’s night aboard the 51M. The packed stove gave warmth but there was no ventilation. Health and safety guidelines were non-existent on the old canals. Indeed, many bargemen wore shoes with nails in the soles called ‘Tullamore boots’, which were ill suited to the sloping deck. The crew of the 63M barely escaped with their lives in the winter of 1947 when the engine of their barge carrying empties back to Dublin stalled and the stricken vessel was dashed against the buttresses of Matthew Bridge in Limerick. Ropes thrown down to the frantic crew below were the only means of escape.
Men were often caught in the engines’ flywheels and shredded. Others were hit by tillers and thrown into the canals, never to be seen again; many could not swim and were drowned, or were drunk on illicit porter when they fell in. Some slipped on navigation poles, were crushed by barrels or were caught up in stop ropes that severed their trapped limbs. One skipper who fell into the canal in a collision and got stuck in the ‘podelling clay’ that lined the bottom was not found until morning. He was still submerged and embedded in the mud beneath. The mishaps inspired tales of ghosts and things of the night. The thirteenth lock at Ardlough near Lord Kincorey’s old estate was notorious for hauntings. At Lanesboro, Co. Longford, nocturnal crying was heard, and at Banagher, Co. Offaly, spectral eyes appeared out of the gloom where a man named Larkin was drowned.
The 1958 Transport Act finally allowed CIE to close the canals but the pension given to employees was not index-linked, resulting in severe hardship for many. Among those badly affected by the closure was the mother of former Fianna Fáil minister Charlie McCreevey. Ironically, it was Todd Andrews, progenitor of another Fianna Fáil dynasty, who was chairman of CIE at the time. HI

John Rainsford is a graduate student of journalism at the University of Limerick. The photographs were taken by his late father, Jack Rainsford, who died on 24 October 1997.

Further reading:

Heritage Boat Association, Cool metal—clear water: trading boats of Ireland’s inland waterways (Enniskillen, 2006).
J. O’Reilly and C. Killally, Through the locks (Mullingar, 2007).

(Accessed 24th November 2015http://www.historyireland.com/18th-19th-century-history/a-river-to-hell-working-on-irelands-inland-waterways/)

Types of Boats on the Canal

Transport
Transport is the transferring of "goods" or passengers from one place to another - origination to destination. The building of the Grand Canal - joining Dublin to the River Shannon in the late 17th century brought marked improvement in Ireland's transport system. Several types of boats evolved through the increase of traffic on the canal.

Passage Boats

These were used for transporting people. As soon as the canal was completed as far as Sallins in 1779 passenger services began. By 1784 service had reached Robertstown and by 1803 the canal reached Shannon Harbour and the service was extended as far as Limerick's Shannon Estuary and Waterford. The standard passage boat was 52 feet by 9 feet by 10 feet and the early ones cost as little as £202. Each boat consisted of a state cabin to seat up to fifteen people and a common cabin to seat thirty five to forty people. Meals and beverages were available on board for four shillings and ten pence a head. However, spirits and wine were not served in the common cabin or to women and children and no smoking was allowed on board. From James' Street Harbour to the first lock it coat 5d in the state cabin and 2d in the common cabin. Passage boats on the canal were quickly superseded by the railway. The last passage boat was withdrawn in 1852.
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Horse Contractors
To run the service efficiently the Grand Canal Company employed horse contractors. They were employed to provide the horses to tow the boats on the canal. If they provided an inadequate service i.e. if the horses were not well kept and if the horses were not punctual the contractors were fined.

Barges - Trade Boats

These boats were used by the Canal Company to transfer cargoes along the canal. A wide range of cargoes were carried, for example, grain, coal, cement, animal feeds, fertiliser and porter especially Guinness! Transportation of Guinness kept the trade boats working until the 1960's. In fact Guinness was the last cargo to be carried by barge from James' Street Harbour to Limerick on the 27th May, 1960. Turf and timber were brought from the midlands to the city of Dublin.

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Bye Traders - B Boats
Bye traders were companies or individuals who had their own barges. They paid a toll for travelling through the locks and on their cargoes to the canal company. When times were busy the B boats were employed by the canal company.
Fly Boats

h The Canal Company was constantly trying to improve its service so in January 1834 they introduced the "Scotch boat" or fly boat. This was a much narrower and lighter boat than the previous ironboats and they were towed by four horses. They could travel at speeds of up to 9 m.p.h. "Comfort was sacrificed for speed!"
Diesel Engines
In 1911 the Swedish Bollinder semi-diesel engine was introduced and replaced the horse drawn fleet. By 1924 all boats had been motorised and were easily recognised by the letter M painted on the stern and bow of the boat. With the extra power of the diesel engine each barge could pull behind it another called a butty allowing more cargo to be transported.
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G Boats

Special wooden boats the government had built to transport fuel i.e. turf because of the fuel crisis in Ireland during the Second World War. Traders transported turf from Lullymore in Co. Kildare to Dublin.
E BoatsThe engineering department of the Canal Company had their own special boats called E boats which were used to carry out repairs to lock-gates, bridges or to the canal banks themselves. Today barge 72M is used for engineering purposes on the Grand Canal.
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Summary

Through the years the transport section of the Grand Canal had fought off competition from the railways and road transport. However, by 1950 the transport section of the Canal Company was absorbed into C.I.E. Even though some freight traffic continued - the last known being the 51M from James's' Street Harbour to Limerick (a four day journey) on the 27th May 1960 carrying a cargo of Guinness, the Canal company has ceased to exist.
In 1986 the Office of Public Works took over the Grand Canal and more recently it has been taken over by Waterways Ireland and has been developed as a public amenity. The tow paths are being developed as long distance walking routes and old barges and flyboats have been converted to pleasure crafts where families enjoy many an outing. A new and wonderful era has begun.

(Accessed 24th November 2015 http://www.sip.ie/sip070/A%20History%20of%20Canal%20transport.html)

hidden walks the canal and beyond

It is not immediately evident to Limerick’s visitors that the city possesses quite a few walkways where it is possible to find a peaceful sanctuary within the confines of bustling city life. Below we will describe how to locate these hidden treasures, and how each one has its own unique style. Each of these walks can be completed in half an hour or can be expanded to take a few hours.

The Canal and Beyond

As you are leaving the city from the direction of the Dublin Road, just after the turn off to the Abbey Bridge, the pathway expands and you are confronted by a large green painted iron gate. While the gate may seem big and ominous, do not be put off by this gate! It is there to mark the entrance to the Canal walk.

The canal was built in the mid 18th century, and up until the 1960s it was a centre of hustle and bustle as barges transported their goods to and from Limerick. Now, while the canal remains, the hordes of activity are no longer created by humans, but by a myriad of wild life that have made this area their home. When you take the time to find this hidden walk along the canal, it is not uncommon to witness herons, swans, ducks as well as many smaller native birds living and playing in the brush along the trail.

One of the great things about this walk is that it branches into many others, which can really appeal to the adventurous types. At the end of the main canal walk, you have three additional options to go from there.

First, you can cross over the bridge and return to the city along the opposite bank of the canal. Second, you can continue straight on and re-enter another walk way which will bring you along the river bank all the way to the University of Limerick and beyond. And third, you can cross over the bridge and re-enter yet another walkway which brings you out to Corbally. The latter two options will lead you through trails that make you completely forget that only a few hundred metres away is city life; as you will be surrounded by towering trees, large bodies of water and the calming sights and sounds of wild life.

walks in limerick city,canal bank,limerick

Canal Bank, Limerick City

Arthur’s Quay to the Castle

This treasure is hidden right in the heart of the city. You could easily pass it by and never know it is there. Hidden to the left of a 70s concrete office block is a small gate. This gate looks as if it is private property, but it’s not, so be sure that once you locate it, enjoy it at your leisure.

Once through the gate you will be led to the back of the Hunt Museum, which was once the city’s Custom House. From here you will continue over the Sylvester O’Halloran footbridge, named after the Limerick man who developed the modern cataract operation, and led many people to be able to enjoy views just like what this walk will provide. Going over the bridge brings you to the Potato Market car park, from where you should take a left around the back of the Court House, behind City Hall and finally you will find yourself in a large open space covered in beautiful and vibrant green grass.

This open space gives you the most impressive view of the magnificent Shannon River and the magnitude of King John’s Castle. You finish this walk by exiting by the Castle. Turning right here leads you through the English Town quarter and back into the city, turning left will bring you over Thomond Bridge and towards the Clancy Strand walk (detailed below), and going straight ahead leads you on to the King’s Island Walk (detailed below).

Arthurs Quay limerick,limerick walking tours

Arthurs Quay, Limerick City

Clancy Strand & O’Callaghan Strand

From Thomond Bridge, turning left will lead you directly to the Treaty Stone, which begins the Clancy Strand and O’Callaghan Strand city walk, whose area has recently been renovated. One of the new additions includes many informative plaques have been placed along the walk which aim to educate you on the city and her history while you take in a fantastic view of the city skyline from the opposite bank of the river.

Keep your eyes peeled on this walk as you pass the house for which these strands are named. These quaint redbrick houses are riddled with bullet holes to this day from the assassination of the Mayor George Clancy and former Mayor Michael O’Callaghan of Limerick in 1921.

There are many spots to stop, sit and take in the view along the walk, which takes you past Sarsfield Bridge to the St. Michael’s Rowing Club. On the slip way at the end of O’Callaghan Strand you will most likely see a bevy of gorgeous white swans. It is advisable to not go down to the swans, as while they will take the food visitors throw their way, they are not very fond of the visitors themselves.

Just like the other walks you now have two options; first, you can climb the steps and cross back into the city over the Shannon Bridge, or you can continue under the bridge to the Westfields Wetlands Bird Sanctuary.

Clancy Strand, Limerick

Kings Island

You will find King’s Island most easily from the Castle walk (detailed above), straight past the Bard of Thomond and crossing over the road to Bishop’s Palace, past St Munchin’s Church and Villier’s Almshouses.

It won’t be long before you reach this pedestrian walk that takes you along the river around the old King’s Island. This is the most underused walkway in the city, whose main visitors are school children talking a short cut from one side of the city to the other. On this walk you will see where the Abbey River diverges off the Shannon River forming this Island. Folklore tells us that the Abbey River was created by Viking invaders whose ships could not cross the Curraghgower falls on the Shannon River.

You exit this walk at O’Dwyer Bridge where you take a right back into the city along Athlunkard Street, a street with a Norse name harking back to the Viking folklore of the area.

Kings Island, Limerick

This guest post was submitted by Sharon Slater of www.limerickslife.com in response to this post. For a detailed history of all the bridges in this Limerick City walking tour, visit Sharon’s blog post http://limerickslife.com/limerick-bridges/

(Accessed 24th November 2015 http://gotireland.com/2013/02/01/hidden-walks-in-limerick-city/)

John Johnson and the Park Canal

Volume 28 Number 2 Summer 2001 Inland Waterways News Table of Contents

The old canal

Ardnacrusha made the Killaloe canal redundant and bypassed the Plassey-Errina Canal, but the lowest stretch of canal remained in use because it was there, at Lock Quay, that the Grand Canal Company (GCC) had its depot and Guinness had offices and storage. Boats came down through Ardnacrusha and into the Abbey River, but instead of turning right under Baal's Bridge, they turned left and entered the canal from the bottom.

The canal-boats took four days to reach Limerick from Dublin — when conditions were favourable. Old-timers claimed that that period was just right to allow the Guinness to mellow, so that the stout served in Limerick was the best in Ireland. When the Limerick Leader reported on the changeover from water to rail in 1960, one Guinness employee was quoted as saying

I can't see the rail-transported stout being better than the canal stout. The shunting and the stopping of the trains will not do it any good.

John Johnson

Fr Dominic Johnson OSB is Prior of Glenstal Abbey at Murroe, outside Limerick. His father, John J Johnson, was manager of the Grand Canal Company in Limerick. They lived in the former canal hotel, which is still, albeit derelict, at the Abbey River entrance to the canal. The Madigan family lived across the lock: Dinny Madigan was skipper of the Fox when she was the Shannon Navigation maintenance boat and, like his son Kevin, a diver. When L T C Rolt met the Fox in 1946 he noted the diving suit, now in the Waterways Museum in Dublin, and said

... her captain told us that one of his last jobs had been to take up the buoy anchorages at the old seaplane base at Foynes, made obsolete by the opening of Rineanna.

Note for younger readers: Rineanna is now known as Shannon Airport.

John Johnson was not just the manager: he was also a passionate waterways enthusiast. He wrote eloquently about the use of the waterways for leisure pursuits; in one article he commented favourably on the efforts of "the goodly company of the Shannon cruiser, the St Claire, to put the Shannon back on our country's map."

St Lua's Oratory was in what is now the Flooded Area; it was moved in 1929 to stand beside the Roman Catholic church at the top of the hill in Killaloe. Fr Johnson writes

My father was responsible for getting that removed from the lake, stone by stone, because it would have been submerged by the lake — the Shannon Scheme .... They moved it all by horse and cart. He always took pride that he was the one that pushed the idea ....

There might be up to eight canal-boats tied up in Limerick at a time. Most of them carried Guinness, cement or flour from Dublin, with up to 25 people employed unloading them. The bell in St John's Cathedral was carried by water from Dublin. John Johnson was responsible, inter alia, for ensuring that the GCC boats left on schedule; on payday, that sometimes meant persuading the boatmen to leave the pubs.

But the GCC boats were not the only ones to use the harbour: sand-cots discharged their cargoes there, and L T C Rolt has an interesting description of seeing a cot with a dredging spoon, loaded with eight tons of sand, being bow-hauled down the canal. The Frawleys had been engaged in this trade for 300 years; the sand was dredged from below Plassey and brought down the canal, which was officially disused. According to Séamus Ó Cinnéide, the opening of large rural sandpits, accessed by lorry, ended the sandcotman's ancient trade in the 1950s.

Restoration?

Fr Johnson has campaigned tirelessly for the restoration of the canal. Its banks provide a pleasant walk to Plassey, where the University of Limerick is located; a ferry or waterbus could carry people between university and city, and the quayside would make a lovely location for a harbour with a waterside pub and restaurant.

A Canal Restoration Association and the Limerick Civic Trust have promoted restoration and development over the years, with the area tidied up and painted, trees planted, the restoration of the brick bridge (Limerick's oldest) and the construction of a new footbridge. However, as it was off the beaten track, insufficient use was made of the area and much of the benefit of the work was lost to vandalism.

Now, however, there is renewed hope. Several commercial developments are planned along the line of the canal. And Limerick Corporation intends to use it to store storm water and relieve the flooding of Clare St that is caused by the Logger stream. In the process, they will restore the two locks: the lock wall at the lower lock is weak and both locks need gates. At the lower lock, the top gates will be doubled, with one set pointing uphill in the conventional manner and a second pointing downhill to resist the tide. It would take little more to dredge upstream as far as Plassey and to improve facilities along the banks.

(Accessed 24th November 2015 http://iwn.iwai.ie/v28i2/limerickoldcanal.PDF)

Basic Primary information about the Park Canal

Park Canal

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History

The Park Canal was built in the late 18th Century to help transport goods to and from from Limerick City. Most of these goods would be heavy loads such as potatoes, coal, turf and barrels of Guinness and the trip to Dublin, via the Grand Canal would take roughly four days.

However, by the 1930s, the canal became less popular due to improved transport routes in general and the construction of an electricity generating station at Ardnacrusha. Sadly, Park Canal was left unused and gradually it fell into decline.

Restoration

Despite efforts down the years by bodies such as the Limerick Civic Trust and the Canal Restoration Association to develop the canal, there were only small improvements made.

However, the Riverside City project plans to make the Park Canal as important to the city as it was in the 19th Century. It is doing this by connecting the old part of the city with the University of Limerick.

First Phase

The first phase of this restoration project will be to open up the banks of the canal to the public. This will lead to more use of the canal as public walkways and cycle routes are developed.

Once people start using the canal it is hoped that services like cafés, craft shops and public parks will be provided to cater for this new interest from locals and tourists alike. There are also plans to build residential properties along the canal and this should further help to reconnect the canal with the city of Limerick.

(Accessed 24th November 2015 http://www.askaboutireland.ie/learning-zone/primary-students/looking-at-places/limerick-city/aspects-of-limerick-city/riverside-city/park-canal/)