As we make our way along we start to make the journey to Ballycommon, we come to Townparks townland, in the Electoral Division of Daingean, in Civil Parish of Killaderry, in the Barony of Lower Philipstown, in the County of Offaly. The Irish name for Townparks is Páirceanna an Bhaile. Townparks townland in Daingean has the site of Fort Governor which was built in 1547 on the site of an O’Connor Castle stronghold.
along this line we come to one of the gems along this way, the Bord Na Mona lifting Bridge, It’s an interesting spot and a great location to get the camera out. From the late 18th century, the canal was used as a way to transport turf from different cutting points along the line. As trading long the canal was increasing rapidly and was even more encouraged when charges were abandoned, the one that was always a difficult trade to control was the “Turf”[1].
03. The half-inch of c. 1910 from Philipstown to Ballycommon and Cappancur Offaly History Centre. Showing also the Kilbeggan Line of the 1830s.
A few incidents along the line was reported, before the construction of the Circular line, including situations where turf traders, held up and demanded change to the dispatching and the price of turf. After a standoff with an angry crowd, that were armed with swords and guns. The canal company, compromised with the people and ordered that all boats display a clear sign with the price of their turf.
During this time quays were used along the canal to unload turf and an inspector was appointed to see the overall control of the Turf trade. By the early 19th century, a steady flow of boats travelled up and down the line, with up to 33,000 tons every year arriving for dispatch. G- Boats were the main boat used when transporting product and with a fixed toll now applied to all traders, this encouraged the use of greater loads.
Along our Grand Canal Journey from Edenderry to Shannon Harbour we come to Rogerstown, a small townland, in the Electoral Division of Monasteroris, in the Civil Parish of Monasteroris, in the Barony of Coolestown, in the County of Offaly.
The Irish name for Rogerstown is Baile Risteird meaning Richard’s/land.
(01.Monasteroris civil parish from the Index map Kings’ County 1838. Image source Offaly History Centre)
Nineteenth-century Edenderry experienced a prolonged building programme, spearheaded by successive members of the Hill family, marquess’ of Downshire. Chief amongst these was the building of a branch line of the Grand Canal to Edenderry in 1802, furthering the line which had passed within two kilometres of the town in 1796. This line brought extensive investment to the area and was the catalyst for the building of stone and slated houses which replaced cottages and cabins.
Jane W. Shackleton’s Ireland compiled by Christiaan Corlett (Cork, 2012) is an attractive large format publication was issued by Collins Press and consists of 180 well produced photographs by Jane Shackleton. These pictures are important for the photographic record in County Offaly and mostly date to 1894.
Not surprisingly there are many pictures of mills in this book and there are about ten pictures of Offaly interest. Jane Shackleton started taking pictures in the 1880s and made several tours on the Shannon and along the Grand Canal and Barrow lines. These waterways photographs contribute greatly to the history of the canals and the great mills which were associated with river locations. Many of these were in fact owned by Quaker industrialists. Like other interested women of the period Jane Shackleton was a member of the Royal Society of Antiquaries (RSAI) and took photographs of some of their tours including that of June 1904 around Ireland. Midleton Biddulph, the amateur photographer and retired army officer of Rathrobin near Tullamore was also on this trip and some of his pictures survive and have been published as Rathrobin and the two Irelands; the photographs of Middleton Westenra Biddulph, 1900–1920 (Tullamore, 2021). Corlett informs us that the Shackleton collection consists of 1,000 lantern slides and 44 albums containing several thousand prints, mostly of Irish subjects. This writer had the pleasure of seeing some of the Grand Canal and the turf works at Pollagh back in the early 1970s with Richard Shackleton and Jonathan Shackleton.
Along our Grand Canal Journey from Edenderry to Shannon Harbour we come to Rathmore, a small townlands, on the south side of the canal. Rathmore is in the Electoral Division of Edenderry Rural, in Civil Parish of Monasteroris, in the Barony of Coolestown, in the County of Offaly.
The Irish name for Rathmore is An Ráth Mór meaning great, big ring-fort.
Here we can find the site of a possible Enclosure, it can be seen in outline from aerial photos. Enclosures are one of the most common sites found in Co. Offaly, with over hundred found all over the county. They are often similar to other types of enclosures defined either by a bank or a fosse, such as the Ringforts.
They are identified from other enclosures by being either very large or small and without an entrance. Many are only known as cropmarks, visible only from aerial view, they have no original dates but some may be from the Iron Age.
A case can be made for declaring that the Grand Canal in Offaly is the county’s greatest building. No other structure has contributed so much to the economic development of so many of its towns and villages over the last 230 years. In addition, it has supported the recreational wellbeing of local citizens for a hundred years or more and seems set to do so exponentially in the decades ahead. It also preserves a relatively undisturbed wildlife corridor for many of our threatened flora and fauna species. The canal has its own rich cultural identity, much celebrated in literature and music. Its components, listed below, still combine to create an architectural entity that is almost fully operational although in a fashion undreamt of when it was first conceived in 1715, well over 300 years ago.
Combining the Shannon or Main Line (1793–1804) and the Kilbeggan Branch (1830–35), the stretches of the canal in Offaly and Westmeath took just over fifteen years to build. As it flows forty-four miles from Cloncannon, south-east of Edenderry, to Bunbrosna and Minus, downstream of Shannon Harbour, and eight miles along the Kilbeggan Line, its architectural components present a staggering list: it tumbles through sixteen locks; crosses five large aqueducts; supports and reflects forty or so ancient and modern bridges; funnels into its own channel an array of supplies or feeders, kept in control by a strategically placed system of overflows or overspills; conducts scores of unwanted streams, syphoned and otherwise, through scores of tunnels or culverts, under its non-porous bed to nearby rivers and gently glides along between a hundred miles of well-staunched towpaths and embankments to a seamless confluence with the brimming Brosna and the Lordly Shannon.
We looked a few days ago at Charles Lever’s description of Shannon Harbour through the eyes of Jack Hinton (1843) and which he commenced writing in the winter of 1841. Another visitor to Banagher was the celebrated novelist, Anthony Trollope. Material has already been published on Offaly History blog on Trollope’s connection with Banagher where he arrived in September 1841 to take up employment with the Post Office. In his Kellys and the O’Kellys (London, 1848), Trollope sends Martin Kelly from Portobello, Dublin to Ballinasloe. His description of the journey is as derogatory as Lever’s and may well be autobiographical as Trollope travelled on the canal as a young man to take up that first post at Banagher.
The pioneering travel book on the Irish canals was Green and Silver (London, 1949) by L.T.C. Rolt. Tom Rolt made his voyage of discovery by motor cruiser in 1946 along the course of the Grand Canal, the Royal Canal and the Shannon navigation from Boyne to Limerick. The Delanys writing in 1966, considered Rolt’s book to be the most comprehensive dealing with the inland waterways of Ireland. [1] In this extract Banagher gets a severe press very unlike the optimism of the 1890-1914 period and again in the 1960s. Banagher also got a severe jolt post 2008. Things are now improving with sunlit uplands breaking through.
Moving off to Shannon Harbour Rolt got sight of the many arched bridges at Shannon Bridge and passed beneath the swinging span. See last week’s blog by Donal Boland covering the same trip in 2023 as far as Tullamore.
Shannon Harbour with the police barracks and the collector’s/agent’s house.
“Just below, was the Grand Canal depot with a canal boat lying alongside the quay. Opposite, and commanding the bridge was a gloomy fortress backed by a defensive wall of formidable proportions which extended westward like a grey comb along the crest of yet another of the green esker ridges. It was a symbol of the more peaceful times that have now come to the Shannon that, according to the signs displayed, part of the fortress had now become a village shop and bar.”[2]
A singlehanded trip from the River Shannon to the town of Tullamore along the western section of the Grand Canal was conducted by the writer over seven days in August, 2023. The trip was conducted aboard the heritage vessel Bomb Scow a converted thirty-three foot Royal Navy seaplane tender. Our thanks to Donal Boland for this comprehensive overview of the Brosna Line, Shannon Harbour to Tullamore which is better presented as one extensive with its helpful picture coverage. This comprises articles 6 to 10 in the series on Grand Canal Offaly.
Content
Overview
Entrance from the River Shannon
First Lock Number 36
Lock 36 to 35
Lock 35 to 34 Shannon harbour
Lock 34 to 33 Clonony Barracks
Lock 33 Belmont…
Belmont to Tullamore
Memories
Appendix 1: Hull and Spoke Concept
Appendix 2: The Napoleonic Aspect
1. Overview
A singlehanded trip from the River Shannon to the town of Tullamore along the western section of the Grand Canal was conducted by the writer over seven days in August, 2023. The trip was conducted aboard the heritage vessel Bomb Scow a converted thirty-three foot Royal Navy seaplane tender.
The trip, was a fact-finding event to record the on-water experience as part of an initiative to highlight the possibility of attracting more visitors to this section of the canal. Described here as The Grand Extension, previous research had revealed its construction was later than the eastern section of the canal and forming part of the British Militaries Napoleonic defensive network.
The route commenced in the west on the callow fringed landscape of the River Shannon, travelling through boglands on a raised section of the canal and terminating to the east in an Esker dominated upland landscape, encountering the villages of Shannon Harbour, Belmont, Ferbane, Pollagh, Rahan and the town of Tullamore.
The Stllwater Navigation extending for a distance of twenty two miles and rising some ninty feet is comprised historically of the waterway, ten locks, twenty bridges, eighteen aquaducts, four feeders and four spillways. Presently the waterway is managed by four lock keepers or waterway patrollers with overlapping areas of responsibility, who operate the lock systems and control the sections water levels.
The Grand Extension, Town and Villages The heritage vessel Bomb Scow moored on The Grand Extension
2. Entrance from the River Shannon
The Stillwater navigation of The Grand Extension is accessed from the River Shannon by way of the Brosna River and its confluence with the Shannon. This entrance is characterised by magnificent over-hanging foliage to the north and earthen banks associated with the canal’s construction to the south. An isolated, derelict bridge-keeper’s cottage that stands on Bullock Island is passed as you enter the River Brosna waterway.
The confluence of the River Brosna waterway with the River Shannon
The River Brosna waterway
The confluence of the River Brosna Waterway and The Grand Extension
3. Lock Number 36
Lock 36 is the final, lowest lock on the Grand Canal system and the first lock you meet when arriving from the River Shannon. A long, floating jetty stands on the southern bank immediately below the lock, providing access to land by way of a large sloping ramp. The lock constructed of cut-stone is entered via wooden balanced, hanging gates that incorporate water control sluices, operated by the lock keeper utilising a rack and pinion mechanism mounted on the gates topside. The gates are opened and closed by way of the long balance beam that extends from each gate.
An engraved stone plaque mounted on the north wall of the lock, details the construction and features of the extension.
The entrance to Lock 36 and its large waiting jetty
The empty cut-stone lock chamber and wooden gates
The full lock chamber and upper-gates
The upper lock gates opened and the ever-attendant lock keeper
4. Lock 36 to 35
This short section of the canal provides an initial experience and understanding of the Stillwater navigation. It is many times narrower than the River Shannon with a defined navigation path bordered by moored vessels to the north and a rich reed-based ecosystem to the south.
Entering the first section of The Grand Extension
The short canal section extending from Lock 36 to Lock 35
Lock 35
5. Lock 35 to 34
The second, Lock 35 on the system, provides access from the first level up to the second level which is comprised of Shannon Harbour, Griffith and Clonony bridges and a section of canal extending to the thirty fourth lock that contains numerous moored vessels for most of its length The waterway beyond the moored vessels starts to provide an understanding of the true characteristics of this Stillwater navigation.
A feature of this canal is the construction of bridges and locks immediately adjacent to one another, this allowed for the transfer of horses (which were originally employed to pull barges along the navigation) from one towpath to the other.
Entering Shannon Harbour
Shannon Harbour
The canal extending to Clonony Bridge and Lock 34
Clonony Bridge and Lock 34
6. Lock 34 to 33
The section of canal east of Lock 34 is best described as the military section as along its northern bank lies the remains of Clonony Military Barracks – most likely the military destination of the canal and the reason it was constructed swiftly. The military grounds are defined to the west by a wooden fence and metal gate and to the east by a long roadside timber fence. The towpath within the military grounds is substantially wider encompassing a lay-by or mooring area. Immediately east of the military grounds lies L’Estrange Bridge and Quay which was utilised by the L’Estrange family for commercial purposes possibly associated with the barracks.
The canal beyond L’Estrange Bridge and Quay displays its mature natural character as a tranquil linear still-waterway navigation mostly devoid of habitation and humanity broken only by the arrival of Belmont Mill.
The Eastern and Western boundaries of the Military Lands
The lay-by and broader towpath within the Military Grounds
L’Estrange Bridge / Quay and Belmont Store
The magnificent natural features of The Grand Extension
7. Lock 33
Lock 33 or Belmont Lock is the only double lock on the Grand Extension. A double lock is constructed when a high lift is required at a location. The standard lift for locks on the canal is circa eight feet while the lift a Belmont Lock is some fifteen feet. Transiting this lock is a delightful experience hard to describe and best experienced.
Belmont Mill and Lock
Lock 33 at Belmont
Filling the lower level
Filling and emerging from the upper level 8.Belmont to Tullamore
The canal extending east from Belmont Lock to Tullamore is best described as isolated continuous delightful for some and a horror for others. The mind may transition into a relaxed static state imbibing the natural landscape and the activities of inhabiting creatures or one may be bored to insanity. The architecture of the locks, bridges and associated buildings coupled with the relatively unchanged landscape propels one back in time to the period of the canal’s construction in the early eighteen hundreds. This relaxation is interspersed by interludes of surprise and delight when a bridge is encountered and frantic activity when locking from one level to another. The villages of Gallen/Ferbane, Pollagh and Rahan when encountered are a connection with present times providing basic mooring facilities. The town of Tullamore provides an opportunity for the replenishment of supplies and the possibility of fresh water. The facilities available to the canal traveller are sparse and presently reflect the industrial era of canal usage.
A simple water tap
The continuous Stillwater Navigation
A canal bridge endowed with generations of growth
Bell’s Bridge and Lock 32
Gallen Village, bridge and rest area
Gallen Village bankside mooring area
Pollagh Village and Canal-Side facilities
Lock 31
Lock 30 and the canal manager’s house.
The canal-side facilities at Rahan Village and the Thatch pub – a former Williams branch shop
Ballycowan Castle of 1626 and beside it the Huband aqueduct dated to 1803. Huband was a barrister and a director of the Canal Company from 1777 for most of the years to 1835.
Srah Castle, Bridge and and the railway bridge
Sragh Bridge and Lock 28
Entering Tullamore at the Clara Road Lock 29
The spur from the canal main line to Tullamore Harbour
The canal side facilities in Tullamore Town
9. Memories
Memories of this trip are especially positive
The waterway was weed free with a good water level
The courtesy and efficiency of the water patrollers was first class
The lock landings were in a good condition
The lock operating systems all worked well
The lock surrounds were neat and well maintained
The lock keeper’s cottages were a joy to behold
Canal-side moorings and services were adequate and of their time
The recent demolition of all the former Irish Mist liqueur warehouses in Tullamore and the upcoming demolition of the great oats store of D.E. Williams have prompted this lookback at the site that may have been intended for the first canal harbour or docking point in Tullamore close to Pound Street, later called William Street and now Columcille Street and Bury Quay – where the Old Warehouse (‘Shane Lowry’s’) is now located. The newly cleared site is intended for a 1,644 sq. metre Aldi retail store and associated parking. The bonded warehouse or now Old Warehouse and the oats store south of it were built close to the canal as part of a strategic acquisition by the distiller, maltster and merchant Daniel E. Williams and at a time when the Grand Canal provided a commercial transport artery for smooth access to Dublin and Limerick. This article is no. 3 in the series on the impact of the Grand Canal on Offal
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