The Shannon is not merely our greatest river, it has witnessed many of our most important historical events and today it's a valuable resource which must be carefully managed, writes Ruth Delaney, author of a new book about the river
EDMUND SPENSER'S reference to "The Spacious Shannon spreading like a sea" in The Faerie Queene is a very apt description when one considers that the Shannon catchment comprises one fifth of the island of Ireland.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the river reflects so many aspects of Ireland's story, given so many places are associated with legend and history. The Shannon Pot on the slopes of the Cuilceaghs, for example, with the infant river flowing from it, has a mystical air, conjuring up the legend of Lady Sinann and her search for the salmon of wisdom, despite her awareness that women were forbidden to do this. And so, the legend goes, the waters rose up and overwhelmed her, forming the river that was to take her name.
Then there are many accounts in the various annals, of the Norsemen coming upriver, of naval battles on Lough Ree and descriptions of the monastic settlements on many of the islands on the lakes and at Clonmacnoise, where the Esker Riada crosses the river.
The Shannon was important during periods of historic turbulence, such as during the Jacobite wars, and it was considered a useful line of defence should Napoleon invade from the west. Indeed, fortifications erected to baulk Napoleon still stand today (Martello towers, however, do strike a note of incongruity in central Ireland).
There is also an important Shannon story to be told from the 1750s to date, from the early attempts to improve navigation. It is this period I concentrate on in The Shannon Navigation.
UP TO THE MIDDLE of the 18th century, the river was being used as a means of transport for small boats but there were major obstructions to navigation in the shallows and rapids and it was at these places - at Meelick, Banagher, Shannonbridge, Athlone, Lanesborough, Tarmonbarry, Roosky and Jamestown - that attention became focused so that these stretches could be bypassed to achieve a continuous navigation.
There are a few reminders of these works to be found on the river today and it is important they be identified and preserved. The works that began in the 1750s arose because the Irish parliament found itself in possession of surplus funding, which it was reluctant to hand over to the crown. Two schemes were undertaken, from Killaloe to Limerick and from Killaloe upstream. While these early works were not successful, they marked a very important beginning. Between Killaloe and Limerick they were faced by a fall of more than 100ft (30m), with a number of shallows and falls to be overcome. These works, consisting of three lengths of bypassing canal, were eventually brought to conclusion but not until many years later and they were subsequently made redundant by the hydro-electric works in the 1920s. There is a new interest today in these three lengths of early canal. The stretch from Limerick to Plassey is being restored, which will enable the University of Limerick to make better use of the river at Plassey. The next length of canal, linking Plassey and Errina, has six interesting locks and two of the locks on the final stretch at Killaloe can be seen with the workshops and slip.
The works on the middle river were so unsatisfactory that the Grand Canal Company, which had almost achieved its link with the Shannon by this time, came along in the early 1800s and rebuilt them. Some of these can still be seen today, including some of Thomas Omer's original earlier lock houses and the lock at Roosky, built in 1769, which had not been rebuilt by the Grand Canal Company. Further upgrading took place in the mid-1800s during the fine navigation works of the Shannon Commissioners, which we still enjoy today. The large locks, new bridges and major excavation of shallows were carried out in the 1840s. During the Famine, the Shannon became a focus for public works to create employment for a destitute people.
Some improvements were achieved by the erection of new weirs, and sluices were later installed, but when there are exceptional rains, the channel is still unable to cope and flooding occurs.
New navigation works were introduced to facilitate large steamers. But the invention of steam also brought in the railway age, which was to prove unbeatable competition for water transport.
Commerce on the river was never developed, although a reasonable tonnage was carried to and from the Grand Canal to Limerick and Athlone. But there was very little on the upper river.
The passenger steamers were also unable to compete with the railways and their colourful period ended by the 1860s. A later attempt to promote passenger traffic in the 1890s and early 1900s also failed to prosper.
There was a certain amount of limited use of the river for recreational purposes, but by the 1940s there was virtually no activity of any sort. This led to a major threat to this important part of our heritage when local authorities planned to replace the Shannon Commissioners' opening bridges with fixed spans, some of them with very limited headroom. It is hard to realise today, as we watch the Shannon bustling with boating activity, how great was the threat that once existed. But it was saved by the vision of a few people, notably Col Harry Rice and Vincent Delany, who campaigned for its revival, establishing the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland in 1954.
ALTHOUGH THE Shannon Commissioners' navigation works may not have produced the expected prosperity for the Shannon corridor, recent decades have now been able to enjoy the full benefit. We are lucky to have them because the cost today of carrying out the work would probably be prohibitive.
However, the Shannon is a vulnerable resource and we need to be very conscious of this. Some years ago the Heritage Council became aware of a corridor study of the Rideau Canal in Ontario carried out by Parks Canada in the 1990s. The council decided to adopt the concept here and corridor studies have now been carried out - with the co-operation of Waterways Ireland, local authorities, communities and stakeholders - on many of our navigable waterways, including the entire Shannon navigation. These studies have revealed the richness of the Shannon corridor and its landscape, flora and fauna, and its archaeological, cultural and built heritage.
The heritage council has continued its contact with Parks Canada which has shown an interest in the council's approach to its corridor studies. It is interesting to note that the Rideau Canal, which has many similarities with the Shannon, in that it is made up of lakes and river and has a rich cultural and built heritage, has recently been designated as a World Heritage Site. There has been some criticism of the developments, encouraged by tax incentives, which have occurred on the northern Shannon, and a new tax incentive scheme for tourism development is about to commence on the middle Shannon from Lanesborough to Killaloe.
It is so important that a clear vision and overall management strategy for the waterway should be established to ensure that the principles of environmentally sensitive sustainable development are followed and that the landscape is protected, so that we can hand on this wonderful resource to future generations.
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The Shannon Navigation, by Ruth Delaney, is published by Lilliput Press (€29.95)