River Boyne, Trim and the Royal canal

[magpie patrick]

I've just been reading up quite a lot on the Boyne Navigation in Ireland (Republic), linking Drogheda to Slane and Navan. Fascinating and with an active restoration group. The navigation was about 20 miles long with up to 20 locks depending on how you count (6 were guard locks or flood locks, one was a two-rise and one was a side lock leading back into the river at Navan) 

 

Several sources report on a planned extension to Trim - the original navigation re-entered the Boyne just above Navan after a long canal cut so going further upstream wouldn't have been difficult - and report that this would have connected to the Royal Canal. The extension was never built and the Boyne remained isolated from the system. 

 

But Trim isn't on the Royal Canal... it's about ten miles north of it at the nearest point, and thus only abouthalf way from Navan to the Royal Canal...

 

Can anyone cast light on this? It doesn't add up at face value...

 

Edited October 14, 2019 by magpie patrick

[magpie patrick]

More information has come to light, so I'm answering my own question - For the very few of you who might be interested but don't know, apparently the Royal Canal was authorised to build a branch to Trim - if the legal experts wish to join in with a debate as to whether they were obliged to build it (not that I'm stirring!) then this power was granted under English Law in the House of Commons, mainly by means of a grant to build the canal as far as I can see- Ireland wasn't a separate country then. Statute 29 Geo III c. 33, £66,000 in 4 percent debentures, plus £134,000 by subscribers to the Royal Canal fund

 

I suspect the extension to the Boyne being for the purpose of connecting to the Royal is a quasi-fact. The works on the Boyne were authorised some years earlier, before the Rpyal Canal received assent or indeed was even properly conceived. Unlike the branch of the Royal Canal some work was done on the Boyne between Navan and Trim. Nevertheless, Trim had two separate proposals for an inland waterway connection and neither came to fruition.

 

 

[Pluto]

The Boyne does seem to be a difficult navigation to research as, although not in Northern Ireland, most archive sources seem to be in Belfast. The original navigation scheme was drawn up by Thomas Steers, Liverpool's first Dock Engineer and the engineer for the Douglas Navigation and the Mersey & Irwell Navigation. He also drew up a plan for the Calder & Hebble subsequently used by Smeaton. The few Boyne details I have are from T2519/12/11 in the PRONI, which record Steers starting work on a Boyne survey in 1746, and presenting the completed survey, from Drogheda to Trim, at the end of 1748. He died a couple of years later.

 

Work on the navigation was begun in 1759 by Thomas Omer, and reached up to Slane, though part of the upper navigation appeared to be derelict in 1789, when work began again under Daniel Moncks, when it was completed to Navan. Subsequently, work on the level canal from Navan to Trim, Kells and Athboy, some 22 miles, was begun, but abandoned for lack of funds.

 

I will have a look to see if I have any other information. The photo shows Ruth Delany, Ireland's best known canal historian, next to the lock in Navan in 1999, IIRC.

[MoominPapa]

3 hours ago, magpie patrick said:

I've just been reading up quite a lot on the Boyne Navigation in Eire, linking Drogheda to Slane and Navan.

I have no information on this, sorry. I just wanted to point out that the use of "Eire" for the Irish Republic is considered by some to be problematic, and to have "connotations", which I'm sure wasn't you intention.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_the_Irish_state#"Eire"_and_"Éire"_v_Ireland

 

MP.

 

[magpie patrick]

16 minutes ago, MoominPapa said:

I have no information on this, sorry. I just wanted to point out that the use of "Eire" for the Irish Republic is considered by some to be problematic, and to have "connotations", which I'm sure wasn't you intention.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_the_Irish_state#"Eire"_and_"Éire"_v_Ireland

 

MP.

 

Thank you, no I didn't know. That said, I'm not a lot the wiser having read the article!

 

I shall amend my opening post 

[magpie patrick]

17 hours ago, Pluto said:

Subsequently, work on the level canal from Navan to Trim, Kells and Athboy, some 22 miles, was begun, but abandoned for lack of funds.

 

Level Canal? That's interesting Navan is 42m AODD and Trim 61m, I guess there could be a compromise level that would serve both in much the dsame way as other level canals were proposed, but I'm not quite familiar enough with the area (something tells me this may be about to change!)

 

18 hours ago, Pluto said:

 

 Impressive ground paddles, especially given how little traffic was carried!

[Pluto]

3 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

Level Canal? That's interesting Navan is 42m AODD and Trim 61m, I guess there could be a compromise level that would serve both in much the dsame way as other level canals were proposed, but I'm not quite familiar enough with the area (something tells me this may be about to change!)

 

 Impressive ground paddles, especially given how little traffic was carried!

The details come from an article in the Proceedings of the ICE of Ireland, vol 6-7, 1859-63,  p51. It also states: The intention having been to proceed from Trim to Dublin, and from the same point, on the other hand, by Kells, Athboy, Virginia, and so on to Lough Neagh.

[magpie patrick]

Trim, Kells and Athboy make sense for a level canal, they skirt the watershed of the Boyne drainage basin. It's also likely any branch from the Royal to Trim would have been level looking at the maps

[Chris Lowe]

I imagine Brian may be able to help with info https://irishwaterwayshistory.com he's another rchs member, he helped me a lot with mapping the Irish waterways.

[Pluto]

The Navan & District Historical Society have a useful web page, with an outline history of the navigation. http://www.navanhistory.ie/index.php?page=boyne-navigation

[Joseph]

Just as a nearly irrelevant aside, I used to teach students from the 26 Counties, and when I asked, out of courtesy, they said they called the country in which they lived "The Republic". 

[Clodi]

I wish to thank you for this  thread, I'm shortly visiting  the area and ,weather permitting, the dog and I shall attempt to walk the route.

[magpie patrick]

Just now, Clodi said:

I wish to thank you for this  thread, I'm shortly visiting  the area and ,weather permitting, the dog and I shall attempt to walk the route.

Please report back! Photos....   

[Pluto]

If you are going there, check out the IWAI's Boyne website: https://boyne.iwai.ie