Guinness Bridge (Over the Canal)
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History
The Guinness Bridge is a bridge in Limerick, Ireland. The footbridge was built in 1996 over the canal in Limerick. There was an debate over naming the bridge as many people wanted to name it after a local historian called Kevin Hannon and others requested it to be named after the Guinness Company who used the canal for transport of there stock until it was closed for trade in the 1960's.
In the end it was decided the it would be labeled The Guinness Bridge as Guinness began sending their porter to Limerick by canal, bypassing the local breweries.This was said to have an effect in the taste of the Guinnesss.There is a milestone by the bridge showing the distance to Limerick and to Killaloe.It was implanted in 1814. In 1860, the bell for St John's cathedral was brought to Limerick,from Dublin by barge. Pieces of the organ for St Mary's cathedral where brought by this route also. On the 1st January 1960, the canal was closed as a commercial route.Charles Wye Williams,Limerick Navigation Company,Directors General of Inland Navigation and Shannon Commissioners where all involved in creating the navigation on the canal.
Guinness's use of the Canal
In the 1880's,as already mentioned above,Guinness started sending their porter to Limerick by the canal. People who drank Guinness in Limerick swore that the journey on the canal gave Guinness a chance to mature and the pint served in Limerick was the best in the country. The trade continued after other traffic stopped on January 1st 1960 because Guinness was building a depot near the railway station in Limerick and they needed time to do this. The cie kept 14 canal boats and 2 tugboats in commission till 1960 to serve the drinkers in Limerick.
History of the Canal
It was firstly suggested in 1967 to construct a canal connecting Limerick and Killaloe. The draining of bogs began in 1715 along with the building of the canals in Ireland.There where many false starts before William Ockendan undertook building the Limerick canal in June of 1757. A limited amount of £6,000 was allocated to this project once the Limerick Navigation Company was established in 1767. The first boat to travel along this canal route was in 1799. To travel from Dublin to Limerick or also from Limerick to Dublin would take four days in the 1800's. Roughly 100,000 passengers would use this route every year.
Location
The Guinness Bridge is located twenty minutes from the Thomond Village in Limerick or you can go to the Living Bridge in the University of Limerick and take the walk around the river Shannon. The milestone showing the distance to Limerick and Killaoe is still there and nearby there is the ruins of on old castle.
References
Limericks Life(2012), Limerick Riverpaths-Canal Guided Walk,available:http://limerickslife.com/limericks-canal-walk/ [accessed:28 Oct 2014]
Aiden Mc Adam (2001), The Guinness Boats,available:http://www.irishships.com/guinness_boats.html [accessed:28 Oct 2014]
National Transport Authority , CIE Group of Companies ,available:http://www.cie.ie/company-profile-%282%29/organisational-structure [acessed: 24 Oct 2014]
Brian Goggins (2008), Limerick's Hidden History, available : http://afloat.ie/inland/brian-goggins-inland-blog/item/15441-limerick%E2%80%99s-hidden-history [accessed: 24 Oct 2014]
(Accessed 24th November 2015 http://wiki.csisdmz.ul.ie/wiki/Guinness_Bridge_(Over_the_Canal))
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