The Board of Works stated that the project was halted because it was proving to be too expensive, that labour had become scarce, and that railways had rendered canals redundant.

[4][5] The local folk memory has retained a different story down through the nearly two centuries since the canal was abandoned: it says that the engineers failed to take account of the cavernous nature of the limestone in the district and when they realized this, the work was halted.

But an even greater error was made at the head waters of the canal where, as the local folk memory correctly records, the Board failed to take account of the cavernous nature of the limestone in the district.

Rather that admit its mistake, the Board opted for obfuscation and erected Sluices to essentially block up the channel it had just spent six years excavating through solid rock.

The canal has become something of a tourist attraction in the village of Cong, County Mayo where a fully completed lock, the excavated dry channel and other heritage features may still be seen.