Grand Canal (Ireland)

[1] The idea of connecting Dublin to the Shannon was proposed as early as 1715,[2] however it wasn't until 1751 when the Board of Inland Navigation was formed by an Act of Parliament that development started to take off.

By 1763 he had completed 3 locks and 6 bridges towards Dublin and was concentrating on establishing a water supply from the Morell River near Sallins.

The canal was extended to Robertstown in 1784, including the Leinster Aqueduct across the Liffey, constructed by Richard Evans,[4] and to a junction with the River Barrow at Athy by 1791.

The "Circle Line" through Dublin from Portobello to Ringsend, where large docks adjacent to the Liffey were constructed, was started in 1790 and opened in 1796.

The whole work had cost in the region of £877,000[5] and it was some years before it began to make a profit, although regular dividends had been paid to shareholders.

(The novel The Kellys and the O'Kellys (1848) by Anthony Trollope includes a description of a tedious journey by passenger flyboat from Portobello to Ballinasloe.)

But the long saga had prompted a rival venture, the Royal Canal, which started construction in 1790 and was finally opened in 1817 after the government had stepped in to resolve disputes between the two companies.

The second was the Dublin and Wexford Steam Company's iron paddle steamer Marchioness Wellesley, which arrived in Limerick on 2 February 1827.

It passes through Ringsend and traverses the southside, delineating the northern extremities of Ballsbridge, Ranelagh, Rathmines, Harolds Cross and Crumlin.

The path of the original main line, which serviced the Grand Canal Harbour, the City Basin (reservoir) and Guinness brewery, can be seen at Rialto.

At Sallins the Naas/Corbally branch diverts southwards, while the Grand Canal continues west passing Caragh, Prosperous and Robertstown, its highest point.

It seems that one hundred and fifty people, many of them drunk, forced their way onto a barge, in spite of the captain warning them that the boat would capsize if they did not leave.

On the evening of Saturday, 6 April 1861 in Portobello Harbour, a horse-drawn bus, driven by Patrick Hardy, had just dropped a passenger on the canal when one of the horses started to rear.

View from the green line Luas bridge
Offices of the Grand Canal Company at 114 Grafton Street which was often called Navigation House.
Leinster Aqueduct over the Liffey
The Grand Canal in Dublin, near Charlemont
Patrick Kavanagh sculpture on the Grand Canal near Baggot Street