The River Barrow rises at Glenbarrow in the Slieve Bloom mountains in Co Laois, Ireland, flows south through Co Carlow and enters the sea at Waterford Harbour. At 192km long it is the second longest river in Ireland. The Barrow, which is fully navigable, links with the Grand Canal at Athy making it a major part of Ireland’s inland waterway network.

It was first proposed in 1703 to make the River Barrow navigable. However it was not until 1785 that the first boats were able to travel upstream to the Grand Canal. By then seven locks had been installed but, because it was too shallow, only relatively small boats could navigate the river. The project was not economically viable

A new report in 1789 indicated that the Barrow navigation project could become viable with the building of extra locks and the construction of lateral canals. Eventually twenty three locks were built and some of the existing ones were widened. Five lateral canals with a total length of almost 18km were constructed to bypass the shallow areas. The last lock and bypass canal were built at Clogrennan near Carlow town in 1836. Boats carrying up to thirty tons could now navigate the river.

The opening of the Barrow canal had for time a significant impact on the development of towns along its route. Trade increased from 16,000 tons in 1790 to almost 60,000 tons by 1830. However from 1850 onwards competition from the railways led to a decline in traffic and the Barrow Navigation was bought by the Grand Canal Company in 1894. The canal continued to be used for commercial traffic until 1959 when it was closed by Ireland’s Transport Company (Coras Iompar Eirann) in 1959. The Barrow Canal, which is open to navigation by pleasure craft, is now managed by Waterways Ireland. The towpath along the river is used by growing numbers of walkers and cyclists.

The letter announcing the closure of the Barrow Canal to commercial traffic was issued by CIE (Coras Iompar Eireann) in the year 1959 On This Day.

Photo by Real Alan Dalton

River Barrow by Real Alan Dalton on 2010-05-09 13:27:12

Cathole Waterfall near source of River Barrow….On This Day

Courtesy: Joe Rattigan

Stephen Roche is a former champion road racing cyclist who is a native of Dublin, Ireland. He was the first Irishman to win the Tour de France. During his 13 year professional career he had a litany of successes and was the winner of the triple crown of victories in 1987. In that year Roche won the Tour de France, the Giro D’Italia and the World road race Championship in Villach, Austria.

Stephen Roche was born in Dundrum Co Dublin in 1959. He was the youngest ever winner of Rás Tailteann in 1979. In 1980 he represented Ireland at the Olympic Games in Moscow. In 1981 Roche turned professional and had ten victories in his first year. Despite injury he continued to win races culminating in his Triple Crown of victories in 1987. He continued to race until his retirement in 1993.

Stephen Roche, former champion road racing cyclist who became the first Irishman to win the Tour de France was born in Dublin in the year 1959 On This Day.

Photo by Numerius

Stephen Roche