Contents:
Events Calendar
Belturbet Town
Branch History
Ballinamore-Ballyconnell
Canal
Lough Erne
European Wanderings
Out and About
Overseas Tourist Information
1994 Cruising Guide
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A Cruising Guide and Anthology of the Ballinamore
- Ballyconnell Canal
Published by the Erne-Ballinamore-Ballyconnell Rally Committee
1994
for the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland
Introduction
This book was published by the Erne-Ballinamore-Ballyconnell canal rally committee to mark the re-opening of the
canal. the committee was drawn from the Northern Ireland,Belturbet and Carrick-On-Shannon branches of the Inland
Waterways Association of Ireland.
The 10 day rally will no doubt have been one of the highlights of the cruising year and hopefully one day you will
look back at the rally and say "I was there". If you were not there and perhaps came across this book
in a shop or elsewhere,you might be interested to know more about the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland,(I.W.A.I).
The I.W.A.I. was formed in Dublin in 1954. The initial aims of the association were:
1) To promote commercial traffic on Irish rivers and canals.
2) To ensure that their attractions for boating,crusing,fishing and sailing are more widely known.
3) To oppose any obstruction to their free navigation.
4) To co-operate with other bodies which may have similar interests.
5) To preserve historical records and safegaurd cultural interests.
The first battle undertaken was the prevention of the building of a low level,fixed arch bridge in Athlone.If the
original plan had gone ahead it would surely have stopped all navigation through Athlone for anything other than
a lake boat. Another success story was the re-opening to navigation of Claredon lock at Knockvicar in 1956. In
the year 1958 the I.W.A.I.opposed a proposal that was before the Dail giving C.I.E. the power to close any canal
or navigation under it's control. This was a hard fought battle and to the victor's, the spoils of war,which were
the beautiful canals and rivers as we see them today.Since these early days there have been many other success
stories that may not have been contested by any other body or association.
The I.W.A.I. proved over the years that they were a force to be reckoned with and were entitled to be represented
at any table or meeting where the interests of their members were in jeopardy.There are branches of the I.W.A.I.
all over the country so there is no reason why you should not join one of them.As you will read later on,the I.W.A.I.
was in the frontline of attack in the struggle to re-open the Ballinamore/Ballyconnell canal.
It is not everyday that an old canal is re-opened to navigation,and it certainly is not every old canal that is
reconstructed,almost in it's entirety,to the specifications that were followed to the letter by the main contractors
E.S.B. International.The sheer magnitude of the project was staggering and yet t was completed on time and within
budget.Read the article from the E.S.B in the following pages to get to grips with the daunting task of reconstructing
a canal that had lain neglected for far too many years.
One of the first people to re-awaken interest in the canal was Peter Denham,Honorary Secretary of the I.W.A.I.In
1965 he published a paper on the canal-this has been re-produced in this book.Little did he know then,that this
would all come to pass in such a short space of time.Some people follow dreams,other people make dreams happen,Peter
Denham is one of the latter. On behalf of all I.W.A.I members, I thank you Peter for your foresight and your dream.
In 1972, Paddy Flanagan wrote a book entirely dedicated to the history and building of the Ballinamore-Ballyconnell
canal or "the junction canal" as it was sometimes referred to.The time and effort that went into researching
his subject is reflected in the dedication and attention to detail between the covers of his book.If you have not
read it yet,you should reserve it at your local library,it is compulsive reading for any inland waterways fan.
All of the articles in this book have been collected from different people and associations involved in some way
with the Ballinamore and Ballyconnell canal and so,at times,some of the information may be repetitive.in the interest
of being fair to all concerned I did not think it necessary to wield the editorial axe.
To all of the sponsors who responded with such generosity when asked to do so,and all of the contributions of the
various articles in this book, I would like to express the gratitude of the rally committee for making this book
possible.I would personally like to thank Liam D'Arcy (Belturbet) for his assistance in compiling all information
from the Lough Erne region. I would also like to thank Denise Rafferty,for her help in preparing and typing most
of the text for submission to the printer,and Eimer Walsh my daughter,for proof reading and general assistance
with this project.And last but not least,thank you Paddy Garland,"Craftprint"for your time and assistance
in printing this book.
Kieran Walsh
(Committee Chairman)
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