WINTER ADVENTURES PART 2 BY DAQUIRI (Sallins to Shannon Harbour)

So we awoke after all the shenanigans of St Paddys day to a glorious sunny cruising day. We were keen to take our guests cruising so we bade Sallins farewell & set off up the Grand Canal. We had a mission not long after we set off though as mum knew there was a geocache on Soldiers Island so seeing as we had crew onboard & especially Uncle Alan the geocaching guru they managed to catch it by mum sticking the bow of the boat into the bushes on the island & Uncle Alan hanging off the front. Unfortunately Ger on the trip boat came round the corner just as mum was diagonal across the canal but he knew we were after the geocache. After that we set off in a straight line to our next destination of Robertstown. On the summit level the water was really shallow wo struggled to get round the bend at Robertstown having to do a 20 point turn just to get round it. The wall was full so we had to go past & onto the jetty which we struggle to get in when there is water in the canal. Luckily we were only staying one night as our long planks only just reached & it was all a bit precarious. The humans trotted off to Charlie Welds for the evening.

The next day it was off to one of our favourite spots at Allenwood conveniently near a bus stop as our crew were flying home the next day. I was absolutely exhausted so had 40 winks in my happy spot.

After we bade farewell to Uncle Alan & Auntie Carmen it was back to normal routine of working & cruising. But as mum was near a bus stop you know what she’s like she had to squeeze a couple of last Dublin adventures in. Both had a musical element; the first was a candlelit 80’s concert & the second was an afternoon kayaking on the River Liffey with music played beneath the bridges.

After that we started making our way along the now very familiar Grand Canal as we were due in Shannon Harbour for the boat to come out of the water for blacking. It was interesting seeing all the changes along the canal now the new greenway has been completed. Rhode & Daingean looked completely different they’d even rolled the red carpet out for us at Rhode!

At Daingean we had lots of surprise visitors; firstly Nell & Mistys mum’s came to visit us who we met back in Daingean 2 years ago as they follow us on instagram. We had lots of cuddles & they left us a big bag of treats including yummy things for us! Then coincidentally Mary & Graham who mum met when they were on a hire boat in Rathangan last year cycled by so we arranged to meet again in Tullamore. Mum also got her new annoying buzzing bee thing out. We think its called a drone but as everything else we have onboard has a name we’ve christened it Dermot the drone! It’s only a smallish toy one so mum is nervous of taking it very high but its good enough for her get some aerial photos of our moorings & annoy us with.

From Daingean it was up to Ballycommon as the greenway all the way to Kilbeggan Harbour has now opened so mum wanted to cycle to it. She really enjoyed seeing where the canal used to run & was able to stand in the bottom of the harbour which was beautifully kept.

Next stop was Tullamore & here we caught up with Julie who was over from the UK. Julie came with us on our very first cruise in Ireland from Sallins to Robertstown way back in Feb 2020. We went for familiar walkies past Srah Castle.

Whilst in Tullamore mum went out for a curry wit Mary & Graham & arranged for Mary to cruise to Pollagh with her. Mum also caught the Tullamore Tradfest so finally got a couple of live music nights in pubs. Who’d have thought when we came over its take 2 years for this.

We had a great day cruising with Mary down to Pollagh & they even found another golden retriever to fuss at one of the locks. At Pollagh we were met by Mary’s aunt Eileen who whisked them off to the pub aptly named The Pull Inn. Needless to say mum didn’t take much persuading especially bearing in mind all these pubs had been closed when mum & cruised past previously.

After a couple of days there & a quick work catch up for mum it was off to catch up with Ann at Ferbane where we spent so much time in lockdown two. It felt like coming home. Dermot was brought out to play again so we had a good bark at him.

From Ferbane Ann joined us as we cruised to Shannon Harbour & for once we got a superb spot on the jetty. McIntyres pub has also reopened do we visited there. The owners also have a golden retriever too!

Now we were in position ready for blacking in the dry dock at Shannon Harbour but mum sneaked in one more adventure. The new Meelick Weir Walkway had opened since we were last there so mum cycled to it & we must admit she did get some fabulous shots with Dermot.

So when the boat is in dry dock it’s very difficult for us to get on & off it so mum has booked a holiday cottage not far away at Dunmore in Galway & we have more visitors coming. So as we’re busy packing our bags making sure all our food, dishes & toys are in we’ll tell you all about the next time. Bon vacances tout le Monde!

Out on That Dreary Grand Canal by Cosmo (Pullough to Shannon Harbour)

Well luckily it wasn’t dreary on the day we moved in fact the sun came out later in the day. We set sail early well 9.30am that’s early for us in a little convoy of 4 boats. It was quite a decent days cruise for us after we’ve been village hopping for 4 months – 2 pages of the map book in fact!

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We had 4 locks to do today with one being a double at Belmont ably assisted as ever by Waterways Ireland. it was interesting & scarey that they didn’t close the middle gates in the double lock in fact mum was convinced he’d forgotten but apparently it is the way that locks done.

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We paused below the double lock for lunch & a little explore of Belmont & we were taken for walkies up the canal. Mum says we’ll stop here on the way back up The Grand in the autumn.

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We were in one of those mooring spots that mum finds hilarious when the bow of the boat is out in the water so we can’t get off the front. She thinks its funny watching us sit there knowing we can’t get out grrr!

We were soon onwards again one last lock before we reached Shannon Harbour the last stopping place before the River Shannon. There’s 2 locks here that drop down onto the river but the harbour moorings are above. After seeing barely any boats for weeks we found where they’d all been hiding! It was choccabloc here with not much room for arrivals so we are moored quite a bit back. it’s a good job we pulled up when we did as there is no space in front at all. But we’ve put our new short planks to good use & we’re OK here for a few days.

We all had an early night after our long days cruise. The next day we awoke to rain but we went on an explore of the Harbour area.

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“Shannon Harbour is unique. A purpose built village, it was designed, constructed and operated as a trans shipping centre. Situated on the Grand Canal at its terminus where it joins the Shannon at the mouth of the Brosna river. Shannon Harbour was original, a town constructed to meet the requirements of accommodation and storage of its lifeblood, the Grand Canal.

Built in 1830, Shannon Harbour was once a thriving and vital place. Over 250,000 people used the canal passenger barges, many of them to emigrate from Limerick and Cobh, to America, Canada and Australia. In one year in the 1840’s, 300,000 tons of produce was transhipped in Shannon Harbour’s ware-houses. The village boasted a bonded warehouse, a customs and excise post, a large Royal Irish Constabulary barracks complete with holding cells, the Harbour Masters house, boat and barge repair dockyard and drydocks, a small school, several taverns, a smithy and livery, many cottages and of course the standard Grand Hotel. At its peak over 1,000 people lived in Shannon Harbour and its hinterland. Today less than 30 people live in the village.”

During the day a lady called Mags kindly dropped some shopping over to mum & she ran mum into Banagher to look at the moorings as we’d been warned the wall was very high for getting off & you know how I don’t like that. Anyway it has been deemed well out of the question to moor there phew! Apparently there’s two other options one with another wall but steps down through the bridge or we can go on the hireboat jetties & pay 10 euros without electricity or 15euros with electricity. I’ve kinda got a feeling the electricity will sway it for mum & she’ll be having one of those mass washing sessions alongside microwaved jacket potatoes & toast cooked in the toaster. She gets ever so giddy when she gets electric! Although there have been mutterings about the cost coming out of my biscuit allowance so I may have to go on protest about this!

Mum has been busy working whilst here as she has a new account to build but she did manage a bit of a break as finally the pubs have opened here. So off the little boat convoy crew set in a taxi to Banagher village ( which will be our first river mooring). Mum was amazed the taxi didn’t want paying when he dropped us off he just said pay on the way back. I could never imagine that in England! They’d had to book a table at the pub & they had to eat which was no hardship (not that any of it made it’s way back onboard to us hmph!). It was a different experience but still really nice to finally be in an Irish pub. There were fewer tables all spaced out, hand sanitiser as you went in, disinfectant spray in the toilets & the staff all wearing face masks. The pub wasn’t actually that busy so I hope their trade is enough for them.

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Mum didn’t appear to be too drunk when she returned & seemed to negotiate the planks ok but we did hear singing from Ritchie & Mark on the boat in front which sounded like they were having fun 🙂

The next day on walkies we walked further down past the next 2 locks towards the river. Mum is now itching to get on there but the weather forecast is not so favourable until early next week so she’s grounded until we get a nice day!

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So all being well our next blog should come to you from the shores of the River Shannon gulp! Life jacket & anchor are at the ready!

Animals & Churches & Castles Galore by Daquiri (Tullamore to Rahan to Pollagh)

After ten days moored at our little urban spot at Tullamore we decided we needed to get cruising again. The lock was just in front of us but the first job for mum was getting some cans of diesel as there was a diesel depot right near the lock. She trundled off with her cans & her wonky trolley that she got out of the bins at Braunston. Anyway said wonky trolley did the trick & we were stocked up. The lock keeper then arrived & we were off en route to Rahan. First passing Shra Castle that we’d walked to.

Then after the next lock we passed Ballycowan Castle.

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This castle was built in 1589 as a fortified house by Thomas Morres on the site of a former O’Molloy castle called Baile-mhic-Abhainn which was destroyed by fire in 1557. The five storey tower of the castle was built in 1626 by Sir Jasper Herbert and his wife Lady Jane Finglas. A very interesting aspect of this castle is its chimneys. There are six visible chimney stacks. Three are bunched together, two sit together and one sits on its own. These are visible from quite a distance and led to the castle being nicknamed the 3-2-1 after its chimneys and it became a meeting point along the canal.

We crossed 2 aqueducts & approached Rahan just as the wind picked up. Luckily there was a fisherman on the jetty who leapt into action helping mum moor up. There doesn’t seem to be the same animosity towards boaters here maybe because there are fewer boaters interrupting their fishing. Tying up was interesting as the mooring points just had a little hole to thread the rope through. Mum managed some inventive tying as she needed to use centre line as stern was off the jetty & the centre line end was too thick to thread through the hole. Anyway we didn’t drift off anywhere so her rope work worked!

It was a nice mooring spot though quite close to a road & sadly a pub that has been closed for 8 years.

Our first walkies we went back the way we came as mum had spotted a nice selection of wild flowers she wanted to look at. Only thing was she made us sit by them for our photos making us look like right girlie wusses. We’d rather eat them than sit by them!

We also made friends with the horses in the nearby field. One of them tried to snog Cosmo. He was scared at first but then he admitted afterwards he’d quite liked it!

There was a very very posh dog bin right by our moorings with posh doggie bags called Mutt Mitts.

We did our best to contribute to it!

Mum then abandoned us & went off in pursuit of a church she’d heard about it. It wasn’t far but the route was on a windy country lane with blind bends hence we couldn’t go. She also discovered when she got there it was through a field with sheep in too so that would have been tricky with too!

The Monastic site at Rahan has been a place of Christian worship for over 1,500 years. St Carthages church at the centre of the large circular enclosure dates to the 12th century. The Church of Ireland still hold service there. On the east end of this church is a circular window dating to the 12th century. With its vivid carvings it is unique in Ireland.

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The next day we went for walkies the other way & met some new furry neighbours (are donkeys furry or maybe hairy??!!)

But nothing could prepare us for what we saw that night. We were just going out for our last cockaleggie when we glanced across to the towpath on the opposite side to the boat & there were three hundred million cows walking up it! They stretched as far as the eye could see presumably on the way back from milking. Then funnily we spotted several white goats amongst them who seemed to be leading them & then right in the middle we spotted a llama. I kid you not. It was like Noahs Arks day trip out! Oh & it was a rather nice sunset too which kept mum happy.

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The next day we set off to our next location of Pollagh. Just 2 locks & a stop for water.

Another nice mooring jetty in immaculate condition.

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Aerial Photo of the Moorings at Pollagh

We moored up right next to an interesting bog sculpture of a turf cutter which is made out of 3-4000 year old bog oak.

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Pollagh was a really friendly little village with a small community shop that mum could top up on essentials like milk, bread & malteser cake!!!! Quite a few of the local community welcomed mum & said they didn’t get may boats there. It felt like the kind of place where they’d help you out with anything you needed.

It also of course had another church St Marys which is renowned for its Bog Yew Altar & Stained Glass windows. Saint Mary’s in Pollagh is an important church architecturally with its converging transepts. The idea behind the converging transepts was that the men sat in one aisle and could not see the women sitting in the other aisle and visa versa. Both, however, could see the altar. With its pair of studio of Harry Clarke stained glass windows on chancel wall of church flanking altar, representing The Virgin Mary and The Sacred Heart. Bog yew altar, tabernacle, ambo and chair from local bogs. Created by sculptor Michael Casey and the students of The Celtic Roots Studio Lemonaghan. Through the process of carbon dating the age of the woods is 4,800 years.

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We didn’t meet any other animals here though apart from the German Shepherd up by the pub!

The rest of the gang have now caught us up so we’ll now cruise onwards towards the Shannon & the big loughs of Ireland with them. At the moment the plan is to part company with most of them there as they’re going northwards up the Shannon then back along The Royal to complete the Green & Silver triangle whereas mum would like to do that with the Dublin Rally next year. So our plan is to turn left at the Shannon & do Lough Derg this summer & hopefully meet up with other boaters & make friends along the way. Then we’ll come back onto The Grand Canal for winter & hopefully catch up with the gang who will have come from the opposite Dublin direction & hear there stories over a int or two in the pub by then.

And yes the big news is some of the restrictions here are being lifted on Monday so pubs can open if they serve food & we can now cruise outside County Offaly so mum’s hoping for some nice meals accompanied by a drink or two along the shores of Lough Derg.