Athlone Canal
The canal, which is approximately a mile and a quarter in length, is situated west of Athlone and was built by Thomas Omer in 1757 to by-pass the stretch of river which flows through the town. The by-pass was necessary because the river had a series of shallows and rapids as well as some man-made obstacles such as eel-weirs which impeded the navigation. There is a natural fall of overfour foot between the point where the canal commenced, north of Athlone (near the No. 1 Battery) and where it re-entered the Shannon. To overcome this drop a large lock was constructed – when the canal went out of use following the Shannon Navigation Works the lock was used to power a mill.
(Ann Hennessy/Westmeath Library Service)
Interesting website, with short articles on each of the main islands of Lough Ree:
http://www.askaboutireland.ie/show_narrative_page.do?page_id=3871
Charlie's Island
This island, situated off Brick Island, just north of Athlone, has the distinction of being the only man-made island on Lough Ree. At the time of the Shannon navigation works of the 1840s the waters of the Shannon were held back by a major damn north of the town. This was to allow clearance of obstacles from the riverbed at Athlone. This island was formed from the material removed from the navigation channel at this time. It was formerly known as Coney's Island but the more common modern name is Charlie's Island. It is called after an amiable eccentric Charlie Backhouse, an Englishman, who came to Athlone in the early twentieth century as a monotype operator in Athlone Printing Works. He 'inherited' the island from another local eccentric, a Mr Cummins, who was a reporter with the Westmeath Independent. For many years Charlie Backhouse lived in a beached house-boat on the island; during the 1954 floods he was marooned there for some time and later decided to move to the mainland.
http://www.mysteryanimalsofireland.com/LRee.htm
The Hunt For The Lough Ree Monster
by Linda McGee
The hunt for the Lough Ree Monster, by now known as Selma, was stepped up this week when the Global Underwater Search Team (GUST) lead by Swedish monster hunter Jan Ove Sundberg arrived in Athlone to commence their search for the beast.
The monster is described as being a giant eel-like creature and has been reported to have been spotted by many locals and visitors to the area alike. The first reported sighting was by Fr. Richard Quigley, Fr. Matthew Burke and Fr. Daniel Murray in 1960 when they were fishing on the lake.
Sundberg and his team Espen Samuelson and Nick Sucik will be searching for both skeletal remains of what could have been a monster and to see if the monster itself is still alive. The expedition, which will begin their search at Killinure Point in Glasson, Athlone, is sponsored by Killinure Chalets, Waveline Cruisers and ferry company DFDS Seaways.
P.W. Joyce in his famous book Irish Names of Places reminds us that legends of aquatic monsters are very ancient among the Irish people. We find one mentioned by Adaman as infesting Lock Ness in Scotland. We all know that “Nessie” has surfaced on many occasions since and that a tourism in dustry has evolved from these reported sightings on Lock Ness. But we, in Athlone, are not without our own monster. Reports of a monster in Lough Ree are not a recent phenomenon on. In the life of St. Mochua of Balla it is related that a stag which was wounded in the chase took refuge on an island on Lough Ree, but that no one dared to follow it “on account of a horrible monster that infested the lake and was accustomed to destroy swimmers.” A man was at last prevailed upon to swim across but as he was returning the beast devoured him!
These aquatic monsters are generally described as ‘Piast’ in the early sources. A word used to describe a dragon, monster or serpent. The last reported sighting of the Lough Ree Monster, but remember not everyone wants to come forward if they think they saw a monster, was in May 1960.
NO LACK OF EXCITEMENT
The Lough Ree Monster was not invented to relieve boredom. In Athlone in May 1960 one had no shortage of attractions two carnivals (remember dancing in marquees!) were advertised for Moate and Athleague. If one wanted to dance closer to home, and had only the bar of your bike to bring home the girlfriend, well you had your choice Syd Shine and his twelve piece band played in the Crescent Ballroom from 9-1 with an admission fee of five bob. The Regal Showband from Bantry were in the Ballroom of the Royal Hotel for half-a-crown or there was Ceili and Old Time Dancing in St. Mary’s Hall for three and sixpence! If the backrow of the cinema was a greater attraction well of course you had two cinemas to choose from. In the Ritz Sean O Riada’s Mise Eire was being screened while The Adelphi had Mickey Rooney and Mame Van Doren in the Big Operator with the promise of a coming attraction in superb technicolour... the treat being the First Provincial Showing in Ireland of “Wedding in Springtime”, the wedding of Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong Jones... so now who says there was nothing to do in Athlone.
REWARD OFFERED
The story first came to light when Col. Harry Rice (Mr Shannon himself) tipped off The Westmeath Independent of a reported sighting of a monster. Immediately two senior reporters,the late Joe Cunningham and Jimmy Spollen, also gave to “his eternal reward”, set out to investigate the story. The then Editor, the late John Glennon, himself a keen Shannon man, obviously saw the matter as a good story and gave it great prominence in the paper. The headline in the Westmeath Independent of 28th May, 1960 claimed Lough Ree Monster Sighted! An advertisement on the front page offered a reward of £100 for the capture dead or alive, of the Lough Ree Monster. The reward was offered by Mr. Tom McCann (publican), Athlone. The sighting which took Athlone andthe World by storm came at about nine o’clock on a May evening while three Dublin priests were fishing on Lough Ree. They was something breaking the surface of the lake which they could not explain. The three men were off shore from St. Mark’s Wood near Glasson when they spotted a “very strange object which was moving slowly on the flat calm surface, about eighty yards away”. They described two sections above the water one which they took to be a “serpent like head, it tapered rather abruptly to a point. The following section which was about two feet distant from the head could have been a bump or large knob on the back of a large body under the surface that was being propelled by flippers.” They estimated the overall length of the two visible sections, measured along the surface from head to hump, to be about six feet.
NEWSPAPER ACCOUNT
In fairness to the reporters who first covered this story in a report which I think captured the excitement and drama in Athlone, I have decided to reprint a substantial portion of the first report: “The monster was not only sighted by three clergymen, visiting Lough Ree for the mayfly fishing, but actually sketched by one of them after it broke the surface and glided towards the western shore. The lakeside tradition and experience of individual anglers over the past thirty years are in keeping with their accounts of it. The three anglers were able to give a most vivid and detailed description of the monster and they were in addition no strangers to the lake as they fished its waters for several years past. The story broke when lakeside dweller the late Col. Harry Rice of Coosan Point told it to the local press. The Dublin dailies and the great cross-channel dailies with their millions of readers then took up the hue and cry and Athlone was besieged with phone calls. Hotel managers, Chamber of Commerce members and Angling Club officials were on hourly call for a few days from all the big papers, grateful for the slightest morsel of news concerning the monster’s appearance, and they were duly obliged to the best of their ability well realising that Athlone had received the greatest piece of tourist publicity that it had ever fallen to the good fortune of any Irish town and non cheaper. Thanks from all in Athlone are also due to B.B.C for television and radio accounts which swelled world interest in the event and which if it did not actually knock Mr. Kruschev off his perch in the headline news certainly created a furore of such widespread interest as to find its way into the print of the many languages of the World’s press. Lough Ree is twenty miles long and seven miles wide at its extremities and has about sixty islands, six which are inhabited by small holders whose main vocation is fishing. Although usually a quiet lake which only now and then makes news following storms and boat-wrecks. It has hit the headline once before, some ten years ago it served up one of the best fairy stories of old Ireland when the Mucknah Fairies made their appearance on its eastern shores and plagued a lakeside family with their mischievous antics”.
The three clergymen, in reporting the sighting to the Inland Fisheries Trust stated: “ One ought not, of course, to assume that the answer to the problem is some completely unknown creature... nevertheless we are in this case convinced that what we saw was not a pike or otter, or any other fish or animal familiar to us, nor was it some inanimate object such as a tree branch carried by a current in this park of the lake... We were convinced that what we saw was a living creature of a very exceptional kind and we feel that its identification poses a most interesting problem.”
IDENTIKIT PICTURES
One man who capitalised on sighting was the Athlone artist Joe Moore. As a young man Joe spent much of the Summer of 1960 sitting in the Genoa Cafe drawing pictures of our local celebrity to sell to tourists. He recalls that he drew many an indetikit picture of the lough Ree monster which he sold for ten bob enabling him to live the life of Reilly at that time. The sighting of the Lough Ree monster stirred a great deal of excitement in Athlone and beyond. The late Col. Harry Rice was, among other things, a correspondent for this newspaper was one of the many to give his view to the local indeed the world press, on this amazing phenomenon witnessed by three Dublin priests in May 1960. Col. Rice objected to the reward - rumours were rife that a reward of a thousand pounds was on offer. Col. Rice felt that such large rewards could lead to depth charging and all kinds of violent activity on the lake. He stated “the killing of the monster might give rise to a good deal of scientific interest but that was not sufficient reason for finishing him off. Such an operation on the lake would also destroy fish life. Col. Rice went on to say hat he believed that the monster was a creature ofnocturnal habits.
WORDS OF WISDOM FROM FRANK WATERS
The appearance of the Lough Ree monster was discussed at the meetings of the Urban District Council. The late Mr. Frank Waters, a member of both bodies and a veteran angler and wildfowler said that “any Athlonian who does not believe in the monster should have their heads examined and if they found to be of rational mind, they should be deported!”
Mr. Waters claimed that the Lough Ree monster story was the greatest bit of publicity that Athlone had ever got and that it was up to all civic minded citizens to believe in the monster. When asked for a natural explanation for the phenomenon, Mr. Waters claimed that the most plausible theory was the “pike rope”. He explained that from these pike ropes, there were dropper lines with baits attached and eve if only one big pike was hooked he would fight and twist at the main line and break the surface for a considerable distance.
OTHER EXPLANATIONS
The late Mr. Paddy ‘Potch” Hanley, a retired postman of Connolly Street, and a native of the Black Islands, Lough Ree, recalled an incident which had occurred thirty years previously. He and a companion, now deceased, hooked some huge creature which dragged their boat around the lake. It never surfaced and eventually it broke the line which was the strongest pike line made at that time. Mr. Hanley described the line as “the nearest thing possible to a rope.” They had hooked the monster, fish or whatever it was between the Cribby Islands and Yew Point and ended up at the far side of the Adelaide Buoy. Although they had lost their tackle, they were glad when the line broke, as neither of them believed that they could drag them about in such a manner. He said that he had heard of other similar incidents down through the ears and claimed that he would not be surprised if there was some unknown kind of monster in the lake.
ISLANDERS’ OPINION
A Lough Ree Islander told a representative of The Westmeath Independent that none of his folk had ever emmeshed a monster while netting the lake nor that they ever glimpsed one, but that did not mean that they did not believe in its existence. He was of the opinion that if such a monster did exist that it must take a great toll of trout, pike and other types of fish and he was of the opinion that the E.S.B. should be asked to lay depth charges in an effort to rid the lake of the monster.
Two other islanders came forward to report an incident which had occurred in February 1960, while they were netting pike and perch off Hare Island. The said that as they were hauling in their net, some large creature which they could not see rightly had treshed about in it and sent up a column of water for six feet. It was as strong as a horse and they could make no headway with but when they got the net in, it was empty and a nine foot hole was torn in it. The net which was seventy yards long, was only two weeks old. Although they were convinced that they had emmeshed a monster of some sort, they did not tell anybody anything about it at the time, as they did not want to be laughed at.
OTTER FAMILY ON THE MOVE
The late Mr. Larry Hanley, long serving national school teacher in the Dean Kelly Memorial School, advanced the theory that the ‘monster’ could have been a line of otters on the move. He produced a copy of the Readers’ Digest for November 1956, containing an article on the otter written by Leyland Stone. He pointed out a paragraph which read “since they often travel in a row behind their parents, each breaking surface in a series of undulations, a swimming otter family might easily be taken for a serpent thirty feet long”.
REWARD CLAIMED
Within a week or two of the sighting of the monster, a claim for the reward of £100 offered by Athlone publican, Mr. T McCann, was made by some unknown individual who sighted a large lifeless creature lapping against the Weir Wall. On examination, it prover to be the carcass of a black coloured calf washed down river from Lough Ree. The paper goes on to state that “There was much civic indignation in Athlone at the audacity of the claim and there was general approval when the Old I.R.A.man, Mr. Mc Cann, who was born in Tubberclair on the edge of the lake and spent thirty years in New York before setting up business in Athlone, refused the claimant and told him at his premises “to beat it out of here.” When it was discovered that the dead calf bore wound marks, the rumour quickly spread that the animal had been dragged into the lake and attacked by the Monster when it came to drink at the water’s edge on one of its island farmsteads.
COMMENT BY T.D.
At a meeting of Westmeath County Council, M.J. Kennedy, T.D., parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Social Welfare, congratulated his Athlone colleagues “they certainly brought a holiday spirit to the country,” he said “they are clever menlooking for tourists.” Mr. J.J. McAuley said amidst laughter that somebody told him it was Councillor Tom D’arcy out for a bathe in Lough Ree. Mr T. D’arcy in reply said that it was the first time during his period on the council that he heard congratulations coming from North Westmeath to Athlone.
EXPERT OPINION
Another body which held detailed discussions about the Lough Ree Monster was the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland (Athlone Branch). The Chairman Col. H. J. Rice said that if the monster was killed it would be taken to the museum in Dublin and Athlone would gain no benefit. Mr. Frank Waters amidst laughter, suggested that it might be a miniature Russian submarine dropped from “one of the jet planes that flew over the lake” a few weeks previously!
When asked to express his opinion at the Inland Waterways Association meeting in the Royal Hotel, Mr. J. Newell, Chemist of Pearse Street, stated “we naturally hesitate to believe in anything we cannot understand and invent some plausible explanations. Now what are the facts. Not one but three intelligent men had each a clear view in day light of some strange creature in the calm water, for sufficient length of time to enable them not only to give a detailed description but also to make a sketch of it while still in sight. All three are no strangers to Lough Ree and its wildlife. Would any of the three be the type of person to concoct this sensational story with its resulting annoying publicity and if so with what motive? Without further information, I would not hazard a guess as to what these gentlemen actually saw, but would just make one observation. One newspaper had mentioned the coelacanth but had not mentioned the interesting fact that until about twenty years ago this fish was only known in fossil form as it was believed to have disappeared from the earth for over a million years. We can rule out the possibility of there being such fish in Lough Ree, but the only observation that I would care to make is that the re-apperance of a fish which was presumed to be extinct for centuries tends to confirm the fact that we still have a lot to learn about life under water.”
YET ANOTHER MONSTER
The late Col. Rice in his Coosan Commentcolumn some weeks later, mentioned that first authentic observation recorded was made in the year 1950. “The man who told it to me made me promise that I would never reveal his name or give any indication which might lead to his discovery. How very wise he was is evidenced from what has happened recently. The place where this appearance was recorded a cabin cruiser later met a peculiar accident. It was going down the lake at its deepest point and well in the middle of the navigation channel when it collided with some large object. The owner of the boat took bearings on two prominent marks and we dragged with a chain for several days but our investigation produced no results. Perhaps a water logged tree stump. I’ll leave it at that and not speculate further”!
CRANNAGH FARMERS OFFER SAFE HAVEN
Farmers along the Crannagh (Cross River) in South Roscommon in a statement said that the Lough Ree Monster had its friends and well wishers who were anxious to protect it from the depth charges and harpoons. They went on to say that they on the Cross River would only be too happy to co-operate in the safety of the poor creature by offering it sanctuary in the flooded lands of South Roscommon where by all signs at present it should live happily ever after!
SON OF LOUGH REE MONSTER?
Reported in this paper on 1st October, 1960 was a little snippet of information which revived the idea of the Lough Ree Monster. Mr William Ganley, of Inisturk Island caught a strange fish near Coosan Point. It was attached to the stern of the boat by the mouth and he had much difficulty in removing it. For a time it baffled even the fishing experts as to its identity but by evening it became apparent that it was a lamprey. It measured nearly two feet, had a rubber like head with oval shaped mouth without jaws and inside there were minute teeth. It had no gills but at the back of the neck had about seven breathing vents about one eighth of an inch in diameter. Otherwise, it had the appearance of an eel expect that it was piebald in colour. The fact that none of the Lough Ree fishermen or local anglers had ever seen anything like it gave rise to the idea that it might be a young monster and a rumour to that effect spread through the town. Extensive enquiries were made but the account went on to say that nobody could be found who had ever heard of a lamprey being caught on Lough Ree but that they were known to be common on Lough Corrib.
WHAT ABOUT THE MONSTER?
Those who sighted the monster remained convinced that they had seen something quite extraordinary. Folklore abounds with stories of aquatic monsters and scientific knowledge and research in the twentieth century has certainly revealed hitherto unknown species. The coelacanth, as already mentioned belongs to the group of fossil fished from which over 300 million years ago the first land-dwelling vertebrates evolved. Coelacanths have been found off the coast of Southern Africa, one in 1938 and a further specimen in 1952. Since then over twenty have been caught off the Comoro Islands. Fossil coelacanths are known to date from the Devonian Period (over 400 million years ago) and the Credaceous Period (which ended over 70 million of years ago) yet they were believed to have been extinct for millions of years prior to the first modern recording in 1938.
In 1946 Sir Edward Belcher discovered sea-snakes, the most highly poisonous reptile in the world which is now known to inhabit the South Seas. The whale shark which is known to grow to 18cm. or more has seldom been found either dead or alive and in 1976 a U.S. naval vessel hauled up a fifteen foot shark of a variety hitherto unknown. The ugly specimen has been dubbed by scientists as the ‘megamouth shark’. It is also certain that both octopus and squid grow to quite enormous size with occasional beachings of creatures as large as those created in the fertile imagination of Jules Berne. One carcass washed ashore in Florida about a hundred years ago was dismissed a the time as a whale. Recent scientific investigations in America including the analysis of specimens taken from massive beached creature may have been 200 feet across with tentacles long enough to reach across Dublin’s O'Connell Street.
Hopefully the story of the Lough Ree Monster will not just go away. A few years ago a monster and his habitat was re-created by Athlone artist Joe Moore with scenery by Martin Moore and put on display in the old Crescent Ballroom as a promotion by Athlone Chamber of Commerce. The modern legend of this gentle giant was a big attraction for children from far and wide and those who visited it went away with badges proclaiming “I saw the Lough Ree Monster”... in time these badges will surely become a collector’s item. So do we have a monster on Lough Ree? Having examined the back file of the Westmeath Independent and in the light of the latest scientific evidence the answer is an emphatic maybe!
Extracts from the book Athlone - Bridging the Centuries (1991) by Ruth Delany
Looking at a map of Ireland, intertwined with its roads and railways, it is not easy to trace the course of the River Shannon. On the other hand if one looks at a physical map of Ireland then the Shannon shows up in stark reality almost dividing the country into two parts. Up until the middle of the last century The Shannon played a huge part in history until it became obscured by road and rail networks.
But the river, which had provided a highway for the people of Ireland also, became the route by which the Viking invaders penetrated deep into the country. In the ninth century Turgis, the much-feared Norse leader, hauled his longboats over the rapids of the lower Shannon into Lough Derg, attacking and plundering the monastic settlements along the way. Clonmacnoise was not spared. In time he worked his way upstream where he established a large fleet and used the lake as a base from which to plunder the territories of Connacht and Meath.
When Turgis's reign of terror was brought to an end by the Irish king Mel Sechnaill. Lough Ree was free of Vikings for about one hundred years, but the monastic sites were not free from attacks because Irish raiders continued to plunder the settlements. History has tended to gloss over this fact, blaming the terror inflicted on the monastic sites on the foreign invaders alone. However, in 992 another group of Vikings arrived and established a strong base in the area, which is now Limerick. Once again fleets appeared on Lough Ree but the battles which were fought upon its waters were often between rival Vikings competing for control of the lake.
When the Viking threat had subsided, Lough Ree continued to be the scene of naval battles. The Annals of the Four Masters recall that in 1137 Toirrdelbach ' Conchobair 'upon the Sinainn and Loch Ribh' launched a brave expedition with a fleet of but twenty ships against the men of Brifne and Meath with two hundred ships. The level of the lake and the river through Athlone would appear to have been lower at that time. In 1252 it is recorded that at Athlone there was 'great heat and drought in the summer of this year, so that people used to cross the Sinainn without wetting their feet'. This would probably have been at the ford, which gave Athlone its name.
The history of the monastic settlements on the islands of Lough Ree is a fascinating one; they appeared to survive the incursions of both the Vikings and the native Irish. One of the islands, Inchcleraun, is connected in legend with the sister of Queen Maeve and is said to have been where Maeve perished at the hand of Forbaid, killed by a stone hurled by a sling from the mainland, nearly one mile away! St. Diarmuid then chose the island in the sixth century as a monastic site, also known today as Quaker Island. This is because long after the monks had left, in the early years of the nineteenth century, Mr Fairbrother; a Quaker came to live on the island. Legend has it that Fairbrother used some of the stones from the ruined churches to build his house and that St. Diarmuid enraged by this sacriledge, put a curse on all the animals on the island, until Fairbrother swore that he would not remove any more of the stones.
From early times too, nearby Rindoon had been of strategic importance. This is a headland about halfway up the lake commanding its narrowest point. This may have been a Viking base but the ruined castle there today belongs to the Norman period of our history. The remains of the massive royal castle erected there in the thirteenth century are still to be seen, together with the town wall, church and windmill of the adjoining settlement, now quite deserted and in need of conservation.
By the mid-seventeenth century the great artery of the Shannon dividing the country had begun to take on a military significance, as a barrier between competing armies during the confused wars of the confederacy, the Cromwellian conquest and to an even greater extent when the supporters of King James retreated west and held the line of the Shannon through the long winter of 1690/91 against the Williamite forces. At the end of the eighteenth and in the early nineteenth centuries the English administration realised the significance of the Shannon as a line of defence if the forces of revolutionary France and, later, Napoleon were to invade Ireland from the west. As a result all the major crossing points were fortified.
The importance of the river as a line of communication had also been realised by the middle of the eighteenth century and navigation works had been carried out which by-passed the shallows and enabled much larger boats to move about over greater distances. A lateral canal was cut on the west shore to by-pass the shallows of Athlone and this canal together with 'The Batteries' became an integral part of the first line of defence against Napoleonic attack. While these navigation works undoubtedly led to larger types of boats moving on the river, trade on Lough Ree was never very great. This was before the days of steam navigation and all the boats had to be either sailed or propelled along using long poles. Out in the deeper waters of the lake where poles could not be used, the boats, unable to sail into the wind, were often delayed for long periods when the winds were against them, or in stormy weather. For this reason most of the commercial traffic to and from Athlone proceeded downstream to and from the Grand Canal at Shannon Harbour. The Grand Canal Company had undertaken an extensive restoration or the works on the middle Shannon in the early years of the nineteenth century and the lock on the Athlone Canal had to be completely rebuilt, the canal dredged and the banks repaired. At the same time the Royal Canal catered for traffic to and from Lanesborough and on the North Shannon thus avoiding the lake crossing.
There was however, some pleasure boating on the lake and organised regattas were taking place in the 1730s, and most probably even earlier. A number of estates bordered the lake with imposing houses, and other gentlemen built lodges for themselves to engage in water activities. The Lough Ree Yacht Club dates back to 1770, which makes it the second oldest Yacht Club in the world. From its earliest days it was known as Athlone Yacht Club and was only renamed Lough Ree Yacht Club in 1895. At that time the lion and roses from the arms of Athlone were also adopted as the club burgee. Ballyglass, where the yacht club is located today, was used as a rendezvous from as early as 1837 and regattas were held at various locations around the lake. Athlone as a garrison town had military that were much involved in these activities. Junior sailing was introduced in 1968 in the form of a dozen Optimist dinghies, and this fleet has expanded and thrived most successfully since that time. The club has made rapid strides in recent years, particularly by the acquisition of more property, and the extension and improvement of the premises. Annual events took place to which yachts would come from Lough Derg and from the North Shannon Yacht Club and, in turn, the Lough Ree boats attended events hosted on these other lakes.
The invention of steam propulsion brought about great changes on the river from 1826. Steamers were introduced on Lough Derg which towed the laden boats across the lake and up and down the river. But the locks on the navigation were not large enough to accommodate the larger steamers and the whole navigation was in a deplorable state by this time, particularly north of Lough Ree where nothing had been done either to improve or even to maintain the existing navigation works. Henry Inglis, a visitor to the lake in the 1830s, remarked that not 'one prow clove the waters of the loch but my own' and he added that he might as well have been navigating a lake in the heart of New Holland as a place in a 'fruitful and civilised country'. Ireland was, in fact, a greatly disturbed country at this time with much distress and unemployment. The government decided to embark on a major scheme to improve the Shannon Navigation. Surveys were carried out and work began in 1840. Two young naval officers carried out an Admiralty survey on Lough Ree and it is suggested that the area in the vicinity of Portlick received particular attention because one of them fell in love and subsequently married one of the Smyths of Portlick.
The works at Athlone were the most extensive on the whole river. The original plan had been to enlarge the canal and construct a new lock but these plans were subsequently altered. When Thomas Rhodes, the engineer, carried out a more detailed survey of the river bed for the erection of the new bridge, he decided that it would be more sensible to abandon the old canal and use the river course. The bridge was completed and opened in November 1944, and the first stone of the lock was laid on 2 April 1845. A giant cofferdam was erected around the area of the lock site but it proved very difficult to keep this area dry. Work continued during the summer months of 1846 and 1847 and work began on the piling for the weir wall. By 1848 it was reported that all the masonry work had been completed but the work on the riverbed appears to have proceeded very slowly and in 1849 majordifficulties were encountered with the construction of the weir.
The decision was made in that year to 'lay dry' the bed of the river. A temporary dam was constructed nearly opposite the Ranelagh School where the river narrowed and the water was turned down the old canal. The Westmeath Independent of 30th June 1849 records that 'the long promised period of employment' had arrived when the many people who had crowded into town were put to work in the riverbed to clear the remains. On 14th July the same newspaper recorded that nearly one thousand men were at work in the bed of he river 'which is completely dry, and which as far as the eye can reach is filled with workmen and horses, miners and engineers etc'. Problems were experienced in keeping the bed of the river dry and so the gates of the new lock were opened to allow the water to run off. But in the meantime the waters of Lough Ree had been building up against the dam and it eventually gave way. There is no record of loss of life when the waters burst through but they did experience enormous difficulty in shutting the gates of the lock.
It must have been a great sight for the people of Athlone to see the great steamers from Lough Derg arriving at the new quays but, sadly, it was not to be for very long. The railways very quickly killed the passenger traffic completely and absorbed much of the commercial trade. Soon the five steamers were laid up at Killaloe and eventually some were moved to other waters and the rest of them lay rusting until they finally disappeared beneath the surface. Smaller steamers were used to tow the canal boats but again most of the traffic was on the Athlone-Limerick stretch of the river and there was very little commercial traffic on Lough Ree.
In 1897 a new attempt was made to inaugurate passenger boats on the river and a daily service was commenced between Killaloe and Athlone, which was extended across Lough Ree and up to Dromod in the summer months. These steamers operated in conjunction with the railways and a pleasant round trip could be made from Dublin, which was called 'The Duke of York Route' because the Duke and Duchess had taken the trip on one occasion. This service only lasted for six years and then was operated in the summer months only until 1914 but by this time it had been reduced to the run between Killaloe and Banagher. From logs kept by people who journeyed on the Shannon above Athlone, it would appear that there was very little traffic of any descriptioncrossing Lough Ree and on the upper Shannon at the turn of the century.
By this time the larger yachts were on the decline and open centreboard boats were becoming more popular and in 1920 it was decided to adopt a one-design sailing dinghy, which became known as the Shannon-One-Design (SOD) and is still a very popular racing class today. In World War II, activity on Lough Ree reached a very low ebb. Apart from a few fishermen and dinghy sailors, the people of Athlone seemed to be unaware of this wonderful amenity which lay before them and few people ventured out on to its waters. Commercial traffic had virtually ceased on the river and there were no longer any masted craft so the local authorities planned to replace the opening bridges with fixed structures. While there was good headroom at Athlone, there were other river crossings upstream where this was not the case and a few people, led by an Athlone man, Colonel Harry Rice, to save the river from strangulation, launched a campaign. An Inland Waterways Association of Ireland was established in 1954 to co-ordinate this campaign, and eventually, it was agreed that the lower bridges would be replaced by opening spans.
In retrospect, with the return of many masted craft to the river, it is now clear that it was a short-sighted move to replace the opening spans with fixed structures. The river today could have been an open navigation for sailing boats all the way from Killaloe to the Jamestown Canal, but not only is it crossed by fixed bridges but also by telephone wires and high tension ESB cables. Despite this, the great works of the Shannon Commissioners of the 1840s are now for the first time being put to good use. The cut stone quays are a bustle of activity and although the great lock of Athlone may not be occupied by the large steamers it was designed to accommodate, it is enabling a large number of boats to be locked through at one time, which avoids long queues, which are a feature of other navigations. On fine summer afternoons Lough Ree is dotted with sails and many open lake-boats setting off up the lake for the day.
The monastic settlements are now being invaded by a different visitor, curious to find out about these bygone days. The greater water highway of the River Shannon is standing out again as it did on the ancient maps of Ireland; it has entered a new era. This heritage, which lay neglected for so long, is now giving endless hours of pleasure not only to manyvisitors to our shores but also to the inhabitants of Athlone. And now, when the proposed scheme to re-establish the link between the Shannon and the Erne navigations comes to fruition by restoring the Ballinamore and Ballyconnell Canal, Ireland will be a cruising highway unrivalled in the world.
At Coosan (Cuasan, 'a little cove or inlet') we hit upon what was to be the most beautiful camping site of the entire journey. And it was, indeed, in front of a little cove or inlet that we made our camp, on the tip of a finger of land - Coosan Point - which pushes itself northward into the lowere end of the lovely Lough Ree and seems to lose itself in the water in a vain attempt to reach the picturesque and well-timbered Hare Island, which, about six hundred yards farther to the north, holds its rare beauty above the blue waters. Here we made our camp for the night , and here we were to remain for several days, for from this centre we had much to do.
The next day was one of brilliant sunshine, and after a glorious sw im at a little after six 0'clock in the morning we had reason indeed to congratulate ourselves upon the beauty of the situation of our temporary home. Lough Ree, lovely beyond compare, lay like a jewel shimmering before us in the early morning sunlight. The tender atmosphere gave the many islands the appearance of being suspended in the air rather than rising out of the water. Almost due north, and a good twenty miles away, our old friend Slieve Bawn looked like part of a mirage in the miraculous light, and the air was laden with some invigorating essence which seemed to charge the body with energy and a marvellous sense of joy and well-being. Breakfast was such as we had not had on this trip before - fruit and porridge and fish and coffee - and we paid our new cook the highest of all compliments by demolis hing everything that was put before us, with half an eye on the look-out for something else that might follow. But our cook was also a disciplinarian, and since she required all hands to address themselves to the ugly business of dish-drying it is not surprising that we were in Athlone ready to take our first shots before many of the good people of that town had properly finished their breakfast.
(from Where The River Shannon Flows by Richard Hayward)
The Area Known as Coosan
(by the late Billy English - taken from the booklet published for the opening of Coosan Church in 1973)
The countryside north of Athlone and bounded by the river Shannon and Lough Ree is normally referred to as Coosan. This locality comprises the townlands of Hillquarter, Clonbrusk, Coosan, Meehan and Creaghduff, an area of about 1,500 acres. This territory - with other lands - constitutes the Barony of Brawny, the latter corresponding more or less with the present parish of St.Mary's. Anciently called Breaghmaine, but in the Down Survey (c.1655) it is styled the territory of Brawny.
The local Gaelic family name of O'Braoin probably originates from this territorial title. In time it became O'Breen, O'Bryan and in modern usage Bryan. The Breensford river, the townland of Carrickobreen and probably the townlands of Bryanmore and Bryanbeg all originate with this patronymic. In Carrickobreen can still be seen "O'Breen's Rock", possibly the inauguration stone of the chiefs of this ancient Gaelic family. Coosan Castle was a tower-house of the O'Breens.
The Coosan locality - due to its location - was undoubtedly occupied in Neolithic times (c.3000 B.C.) This can be verified by some stone axes found in the immediate area, and also by the possible remains of a megalithic tomb (c.2000 B.C.), located on top of a sand hill in a field east of Coosan Church. Bronze Age man also inhabited the locality , as shown by some bronze axes found in Clonbrusk on the Shannon bank. Early Christian man followed and must have constructed twp raths (ring forts) which survive, and was probably the builder of a souterrain (cave) still to be seen on Sean Macken's land in Creaghduff. From this "cave" we have the origin of the nameCoosan-the Irish "Cuasan, a cavern or cave. About the year 530 A.D. St.Ciaran founded the monastery of Twyford (Iseal Chiarain), he then moved to Hare Island (Inis Ainghin) and from there in 548 he established Clonmacnoise. St.Ciaran died in 549. As Hare Island and Iseal Chiarain adjoin St.Mary's parish, the saint was certainly acquainted with the lands of Coosan. A legend has it that he departed from Hare Island followingthe theftof his cow. The O'Breen family held the lands until ther land confiscations in 1641 when all thir territory was granted to Gilbert Eccles. The Book of Survey and Distribution lists Carbery, Garett, and Kedagh Byrne as the principal owners. The Eccles family appear to have sold their lands to the Rochfords in the eighteenth century, the latter sold to John Ennis c.1828. For this sale the estate was described as lands of the late Gustavus Rochford, containing 1,131 profitable acres with 28 tenants. From Ennis it passed to the O'Donoghues of Ballinahown and until purchased by the Irish Land Commission the lands were deignated the O'Donoghue Estate.
One of the Rochfords intended to build a mansion in Coosan. He commenced by erecting a curious set of arches to straddle an avenue on his estate, under which he hoped to drive on his wedding day. When his fiancee died suddenly, the scheme was abandoned when only the third arch had been commenced. one of these arches survived until c.1930 when the County Council demolished it as being unsafe. It crossed the road north of Coosan Church and was placed infront of Charlie Hughes' house. The second arch survives in a field fence west of Coosan School.
The land of Coosan are of a good agricultural quality and down the years must have acted as a market garden for Athlone, supplying vegetqables and grain to the corn mills of the town. Flax was grown for the Athlone flax market, and especially for the home trade - this is confirmed by the name of a local field "The Bleach", on which Coosan Church was built.
The only small industries of the Coosan area were boat-building, the manufacture of bricks at Brick Island, and the cutting of stone at Coosan Point for the building ofAthlone Bridge in 1567. Local knowledge has it that considerable home weaving was carried on, which brought to the area the craft of button-making from animal horns and bones. Both were trades necessary to supply an important town such as Athlone.
http://www.athlonelive.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=96
You can see 24 hour webcam views of Coosan Point and Lough Ree, and a 360 degree shot of Killinure Point, if you click here
Lough Ree Yacht Club, Ballyglass, Coosan
24 aerial photos of Athlone, Lough Ree and Clonmacnoise here
With so little to detain us we made quick time into Athlone (Ath-Luain, 'the Ford of Luan'). There are other more fanciful derivations of this name, but I think this is the most satisfactory. We don't know anything about Luan except that his father's name was Lewy, a fact that we learn from that ancient romance The Fate of the Children of Tuireann, in which Athlone is called Ath-Luain-Mic-Luighdheach - which means "The Ford of Luan the Son of Lewy."
My first care in Athlone was to find a good camping site, and so by arrangement I called on Mr Shine , the local manager of the Grand Canal Company. Through the good offices of Mr. McCann, the chairman, and Mr. Scott, the general manager of the Grand Canal Company, it had been arranged that I might call upon anyu of the company's officials for assistance or information of any kind, and, indeed, I had the assurance that I might use any of the company's property all the way down the Shannon, or even ask for the use of a motor barge, which would be placed freely at my disposal. i shall have much to say about the Grand Canal Company later on in this book, but as it was at Athlone that I first took advanytage of the service which had been offered I feel that this is the place to express my gratitude for the cheerful manner in which it was given to me. Mr. Shine could not do enough for us, and after one piece of bad selection we hit upon what was to be the mostbeautiful camping site ofthe entire journey. This was at Coosan (Cuasan, 'a little cove (I) or (I)inlet'). And it was, indeed, in front of a little cove or inlet that we made our camp, on the tip of a finger of land - Coosan Point - which pushes itself northward into the lowere end of the lovely Lough Ree and seems to lose itself in the water in a vain attempt to reach the picturesque and well-timbered Hare Island, which, about six hundred yards farther to the north, holds its rare beauty above the blue waters. Here we made our camp for the night , and here we were to remain for several days, for from this centre we had much to do. Beside our caravan now rose the cunnungly contrived tent of the Mayes, and with everything ready we decided to go back into Athlone for a meal at the excellent Prince of Wales Hotel, where we celebrated in proper form the arrival of the new members of our caravanserai. From this night Audrey Mayes took entire charge of our commissariat department, and the result was a notable improvement in the quality of our food, a more economical system of buying it, and a welcome variety in our menus, which until now had been sadly lacking. There is nothing like the professional touch, and when it comes to housekeeping women are the professionals and most men nothing but bad amateurs.
The next day was one of brilliant sunshine, and after a glorious sw im at a little after six 0'clock in the morning we had reason indeed to congratulate ourselves upon the beauty of the situation of our temporary home. Lough Ree, lovely beyond compare, lay like a jewel shimmering before us in the early morning sunlight. The tender atmosphere gave the many islands the appearance of being suspended in the air rather than rising out of the water. Almost due north, and a good twenty miles away, our old friend Slieve Bawn looked like part of a mirage in the miraculous light, and the air was laden with some invigorating essence which seemed to charge the body with energy and a marvellous sense of joy and well-being. Breakfast was suchas we had not had on this trip before - fruit and porridge and fish and coffee - and we paidour new cook the highest of all compliments by demolis hing everything that was put before us, with half an eye on the look-out for something else that might follow. But our cook was also a disciplinarian, and since she required all hands to address themselves to the ugly business of dish-drying it is not surprising that we were in Athlone ready to take our first shots before many of the good people of that town had properly finished their breakfast.
Athlone is always spoken of as the centre of Ireland, and with the allowance of amile or two by way of poetic licence, we may grant it that distinction. The actual centre is said to lie in the townland lf Kilkenny West, which is a few miles away in the County Westmeath, where it is marked by a pinnacle which looks like a round tower with a round instead of a conical top. But for the sake of a mile or two I don't want to take away this ancient distinction from Athlone, although that place has so many other distinctions that it wouldn't miss it even if I did, for Athlone has played a more important part in the history of Ireland than any other place, with the possible exception of Derry. And I'm not saying that just because I happen to come from Ulster.
If you stand at the eastern end of the bridge of Athlone you are half-way across Ireland from Dublin, and if you stand at the western end you are half-way across from Galway; and this means much more than the bare statement, for it shows you that Athlone was the frear natural ford across the Shannon between the ancient kingdoms of Leinster and Connacht, and any place that lies in such a situation is bound to become more than a small bone of contention, and to gather stirring, bloody history around itself whether it will or not. Even before this place was Ath-Luain, which was a good many generations before the Christian era, it was already famous as Ath-Mor, which means "the Big Ford." Battles were fought here from time immemorial, and even after Elizabethan times when you passed from Leinster to Connacht, which was not always an easy thing to do, you did more than pass from one province to another - you passed from one world to another, from the world of the English Pale and the kind of civilization it stood for to the world of Connacht, which was stillthe old Irish world of the untamed and untameable(?) Gael.
In the reign of King John the Castle of Athlone was built by John de Gray, Bishop of Norwich and Lord Justiciary of Ireland. Thiswas at the beginning of the thirteenth century, and so quickly did the place grow in importance that when Henry III of England granted the dominion of Ireland to Prince Edward he expressly reserved Athlone for himself. In Elizabethan times Athlone was the seat of the Presidency of Connacht, and during "the 1641" the castle and town under Lord Ranelagh, who wasthen Lord President, were besieged by the Cinnacht men for nearly six months, and the garrison would have been destroyed by famine and disease had not relief come from Dublin in the nick of time.
Then during that great struggle between William of Orange and James II of England, which in the amazing whirligig of history secured at once the Protestant succession in England and the Catholic solidarity of Europe, Athlone was held for James II by Colonel Grace, and the army of William of Orange had to retreat from the unconquered wall; and thus, after their defeat at the Boyne, the Franco-Irish forces held the line of the Shannon, with Athlone and Limerick as their main positions. In the following year came the Williamite forces again, this time under Ginkel, a Dutchman, who was also a good soldier, which was more than could be said for the French General Saint-Ruth, who was in charge of Athlone. For by stubbornly refusing to adapt the tactics which he had learned in the military schools of Europe to the conditions with which he was faced in ireland, Saint-Ruth was forced out of Athlone, and when he offered battle at Aughrim, which is about eighteen miles to the west of Athlone, he lost that place by his folly and his head by a cannon-ball. In this engagement the struggle for the old Bridge of Athlone, which was built by Sir Henry Sidney in 1566, makes one of the most glorious pages in the stirring history of this old town. The overweening confidence of Saint-Ruth, who seems to have been intoxicated by the recent success of Colonel Grace, was such that the English forces had already taken portion of the bridge, arch by arch in hand-to-hand combat, before the French General roused himself from hos slumbers and probably said something like the line in the old play:
And if the Britons dare pursue
Tell them Saint-Ruth is here, and that will do.
By next day, with the exception of the single arch on the Connacht side which the Irish had already broken down for safety, the Bridge of Athlone was in the hands of the English forces under Ginkel. And then came the time for great deeds and high courage, for the English were laying planks across the broken bridge and preparing to take the town by storm. Saint-Ruth called for volunteers, men with axes who would cut away the planks as they were placedin position, and although this task must needs be performed in the face of deadly fire from artillery and muskets, volunteers were not lacking. The first were brawny sons of Scotland, and as they advanced the English guns and muskets boomed and barked. Came a heavy pall of smoke, and when it cleared awway the volunteers lay dead among the shattered timber. Came other volunteers to meet a like fate. And then came Custume, that heroic sergeant of the Irish army, who with a handful of comrades and in the very jaws of death succeeded in doing that for which the er arlier volunteers had given their lives in vain. But the respite was only temporary, and the vanity and stubborness of Saint-Ruth lost Athlone for Ireland. With a more sensible commander , and above all one not too proud to consider the good advice which Sarsfield sent from Limerick, Irish history might have taken a different turn.
(from Where The River Shannon Flows by Richard Hayward)
Situated on the River Shannon between Lanesborough and Athlone, Lough Ree is the third largest lake in the Republic of Ireland. It lies in an ice-deepened depression in Carboniferous Limestone. Some of its features (including the islands) are based on glacial drift. The main inflowing rivers are the Shannon, Inny and Hind, and the main outflowing river is the Shannon. The greater part of Lough Ree is less than 10 m in depth, but there are six deep troughs running from north to south, reaching a maximum depth of about 36 m just west of Inchmore. The lake has a very long, indented shoreline and hence has many sheltered bays. It also has agood scattering of islands, most of which are included in the site. The lake is classified as a mesotrophic system, but the size of the system means that a range of conditions prevail depending on, for example, rock type. This gives rise to local variations in nutrient status and pH, which in turn result in variations in the phytoplankton and macrophyte flora. In the most recent assessment of water quality a reduced planktonic growth was noted, which may be due to the spread of the Zebra Mussel (Dreissena polymorpha), which feeds on phytoplankton.
The waters of Lough Ree tend to be strongly peat-stained, restricting macrophytes to depths of less than 2 m. The aquatic flora includes such species as Intermediate Bladderwort (Utricularia intermedia), pondweeds (Potamogeton spp.), Quillwort (Isoetes lacustris), stoneworts (Chara spp., including C. pedunculata) and Arrowhead (Sagittaria sagittifolia). Beds of Common Reed (Phragmites australis) are an extensive habitat in a number of the more sheltered places around the lake; monodominant stands of Common Club-rush (Scirpus lacustris), Slender Sedge (Carex lasiocarpa) and Saw Sedge (Cladium mariscus) also occur as swamps in suitable places. Some of these grade into species-rich calcareous fen or freshwater marsh. Lowland wet grassland, some of which floods in winter, occurs frequently around the shore. Dry, broad-leaved, semi-natural woodland occurs in several places around the lake, and on some of the islands within the site, notably on Hare Island. Pockets of wet woodland also occur around the lake, most of which are dominated by willows (Salix spp.), Alder (Alnus glutinosa) and Downy Birch (Betula pubescens).
Lough Ree is one of the most important Midland sites for wintering waterfowl, with nationally important populations of Wigeon (1,475), Teal (912), Pintail (35), Tufted Duck (661), Goldeneye (137), Golden Plover (2,035) and Lapwing (3,870) occurring ? all figures are average peaks for the 5 seasons 1995/96-1999/00. Regionally important numbers of Whooper Swan (89) and Greenland White-fronted Goose (92) are found feeding in the vicinity of the lake, as are Golden Plover, Lapwing and, to some extent, Wigeon and Teal. Other species which occur in winter include Cormorant (64), Mallard (675), Coot (250), Shoveler (40),Curlew (167) and Great Crested Grebe (23), as well as the resident Little Grebe (34) and Mute Swan (93).
The site supports a nationally important population of Common Tern (90 pairs in 1990). It is a traditional breeding site for Black-headed Gull and whilst a full survey has not been carried out in recent years, substantial numbers of nesting birds were present on at least one island in 2003. Lesser Black-backed Gull and Common Gull have bred in the past and may still breed. Lough Ree is an important site for breeding duck and grebes, with Tufted Duck (265 individuals in late May 1995) and Great Crested Grebe (89 individuals in late May 1995) having populations of national importance. Of particular note is that Lough Ree is one of the two main sites in the country for breeding Common Scoter, a Red Data Book species. The most recent full census of the site for the species (in 1999) gave a population of c. 32 pairs. The woodland around the lake is a stronghold for Garden Warbler and this scarce species probably occurs on some of the islands within the site.
Otter, a species listed on Annex II of the E.U. Habitats Directive occurs frequently within the site. The endangered, Red Data Book fish species, Pollan (Coregonus autumnalis pollan) is recorded from Lough Ree, one of only four sites (L. Neagh, L. Erne, L. Ree and L. Derg) in which it occurs. The shrimp, Mysis relicta, occurs in the lake and is a relic of the glacial period in Ireland.
Whilst recently classified as a mesotrophic system, Lough Ree had been moderately eutrophic in the mid-1990s. It is vulnerable to artificial enrichment of the waters by agricultural and domestic waste. The recent reduction in phytoplanktonic growth has coincided with the invasion of the Shannon system by the Zebra Mussel; however, in the long-term this invasive bivalve may threaten the ecology of the lake. Recreational activities, especially boating, presently cause some disturbance to the birds and an increase in such activities would be of concern. Developments above the lakeshore could affect feeding grounds of some of the wintering waterfowl and nesting habitat for duck species.
Lough Ree is of high ornithological importance for both wintering and breeding birds. It supports nationally important populations of seven wintering waterfowl species, as well as other important species including Whooper Swan and Greenland White-fronted Goose (both of which are listed on Annex I of E.U. Birds Directive). The site has a range of breeding waterfowl, notably nationally important populations of Common Scoter, Great Crested Grebe and Tufted Duck. It also has a colonyof Common Tern, another species listed on Annex I of the E.U. Birds Directive.
Regatta at Ballyglass
