Oh my goodness we’ve been doing so much adventuring we’ve not been able to keep up with our blog. It’s been all go but here we go with our latest cruise adventures.
We very sadly parted company with Nuala as she was heading south & we were off north. To beat the weather we set off very early on an overcast day a short hop up the River Shannon to Tarmonbarry. It’s here that the Clondra Canal meets the River Shannon. So we just moored here for one night ready to set off up the Clondra Canal & then onto the Camlin River the next day. We moored for the night in the short entrance to the private marina.



The next morning we traversed the River Shannon & entered the Clondra Canal & up the one lock. At the end of this you can turn right to Richmond Harbour & the start of The Royal Canal which is hopefully our plan for winter. Today we turned left onto the very pretty Camlin River which winds round & then joins the River Shannon further north above Tarmonbarry.




Once we’d rejoined the River Shannon it was actually quite busy & we passed several boats. We continued north up across Lough Forbes & up Roosky lock to moor up on one of the fabulous jetties along the bank.




We stayed here a couple of days & mum was able to get a few top up supplies from the shop. Then we made the short hop up To Dromod. On the way mum stopped for diesel I think she nearly fainted as she only needed half a tank & it was 243euros!!! Apparently we’re trying to only run our engine days we move now as its longer days for the solar & the fire isn’t going on till at least November at these prices!
Dromod was one of harbours mum had recce’d on her holiday & she knew there was a smaller side harbour which had a lower bank for getting us off. She was also uncertain if she’d be able to turn in there so she did a reverse manoeuvre with an audience of hire boats who had all looked out when she turned up probably wondering how she was going to fit in the main harbour. Anyway we got moored perfectly & we could get off fine here.






The wind picked up a bit across the weekend so we stayed a few days at Dromod. The pretty town of Dromod is situated on shore where Lough Boderg (Lake of the Red Cow) and Lough Bofin (Lake of the White Cow) intertwine. Mum had a nice evening our at Coxs steakhouse & visited the wonderful Cavan & Leitrim Railway. It is is a unique family attraction being the only location in Ireland where visitors can board an airplane cockpit and view heritage steam and diesel locomotives. There is a massive eclectic collection of vehicles and mum even got a little train ride. Heres a few photos to give you a flavour.









We were also treated to a spectacular sunset whilst at Dromod.





After the weekend the wind calmed & the forecast for the next week was very calm. So we decided to continue northwards & skip Kilglass & Grange as we’ll save those for our way back as we’d like to spend a few days there & we didn’t want to miss this current good cruising window. From Roosky northwards we’ll be able to visit again on our way back down at the end of the summer. So it was full steam ahead across 3 loughs: Bofin, Boderg & Tap to Drumsna.




We were very relieved to see there was space by the steps as again the wall would be too high for us to get off. We actually got a rare bit of sunshine while we were moored there too.
Next day we headed back down the river & turned onto The Jamestown Canal. We were hoping to moor at the end of this but alas the wall was too high so we continued onto Carrick praying that there was room as it was late afternoon. We normally try & arrive in the mornings to ensure we can get our long boat in at places. Anyway we needn’t have worried as there was loads of space. We did have to moor on short finger moorings here that we only get just under half of our length on. Luckily as it was a calm forecast we were fine.


Carrick-on-Shannon is the county town of County Leitrim in Ireland. It is the largest town in the county of Leitrim. A smaller part of the town lies in County Roscommon. It is situated on a strategic crossing point of the River Shannon & is a mecca for Hire boats.
Carrick-on-Shannon is the county town of County Leitrim in Ireland. It is the largest town in the county of Leitrim. A smaller part of the town lies in County Roscommon. It is situated on a strategic crossing point of the River Shannon. Carrick on Shannon is known as ‘the marina capital of Ireland‘ and the Marina is an attractive focal point of the town with many hire boat companies & a daily trip boat running. It has a beautiful riverside park & boardwalk over the river that we enjoyed for walkies.




It also has the Costello Chapel which is the smallest chapel in Europe & the second smallest in the world. The Chapel is sixteen feet long by twelve foot wide and thus covers an area of 192 feet. The Costello Memorial Chapel was erected by Edward Costello to mark his devotion to his wife, who died in 1877 at the age of 46. On the death of his wife, Mary Josephine, he had work on the memorial Chapel started. It was to be both a monument to his love and a last resting place for his wife and himself. The little building was dedicated on April 22, 1879 and after the consecration ceremony, the body of Mrs Costello was placed in a sunken space to the left of the entrance, and covered over with a thick slab of specially made glass. The body, which was interred in a metal coffin, had been embalmed when Mrs Costello died, and had been cared for in the interim by the marist nuns. Mr Costello himself died in March 1891, and his remains also in a metal coffin were placed in a sunken space to the right of the entrance. A thick glass lid was placed over this vault too, and today the inscriptions on both coffins can be read with the aid of a torch.


On a slightly less sombre note Carrick has many pubs & restaurants which no prizes for guessing mum was off visiting!
Now we didnt want to spend too long at Carrick as we’ll be back here in a couple of weeks to meet friends & you’re only allowed to moor at the harbours for 5 days. So after the important task of an online shopping delivery of 4 large bags of dog food we set off northwards to Leitrim. We’ve now ended up very ahead of schedule as Leitrim & Lough Allen were our end goal this summer. Ah well we can always go to our favourite places again or move our goals.
Leitrim is a small village at the start of the Shannon-Erne waterway which is our 2023 goal. It is just on a canal section & we found a perfect mooring with grass right next to us.





Unfortunately it did nothing but rain all the time we were there & its one of the first places we had a very poor internet signal. Of course this meant mum had to go to the pub to use their wifi! Mum had hoped to cycle further up the canal to have a look at the locks but given the weather that plan was shelved.
We’re now quite a way up the waterways as can be seen from the map below. This blog has taken us from Roosky to Leitrim. Lough Allen is next & then we also have Lough Key to explore which we’re really looking forwards to.

We decided to move onwards from Leitrim & have a quick look up at Lough Allen as there’s a festival on at Drumshanbo then we’ll possibly come back & do more time on Lough Allen in August. We’ll fill you in on our Lough Allen adventures in the next blog.