A Brief History of The Eglinton Canal

Introduction

Taking four and a half years to complete, the Eglinton Canal was opened in 1852, by the Earl of Eglinton, to improve trading routes between Galway, Conamara and southern Mayo. This route would allow for the transfer of goods not only from Galway to these locations, but also from Galway to the harbour and the outer world in a manner which would place less reliance on on-land commercial travel^i,ii,iii,iv. This short essay will discuss the reasons why the project was undertaken, the structure and eventual closure of the canal as a commercial trading route, and the canal’s continued place in Galway city today.

Why was it done?

Work on the canal would begin shortly after the local University was completed, with the canal’s construction beginning in March of 1848 ^v,vi. In large part, the Eglinton Canal was built for four reasons, firstly, this would be done to act as a large-scale project for the town to function as a relief project to keep citizens of Galway employed in the time following the famine. Another cause for its construction would be to improve trade routes in the region. This would involve turning Galway into a more whole harbour city. Additionally, the decision would be made whilst also considering the development of mills in its aftermath, and lastly the project was undertaken with a goal of decreasing the risk of flooding in the surrounding area^vii,viii,ix. Despite this final decision to build a canal as part of the relief schemes of the time, it is important to note that there were considerations for a canal prior to this period as well. In 1832, an idea for the “Galway Bay canal” had been considered by a grand jury, with a planned route connecting Lough Corrib through the city by redirecting some of the River Corrib’s water flow through the town. This canal would begin near the pier in Woodquay before going through the city and ending in the old docks. While this idea was abandoned due to high costs (£1500 had to be raised from the people of the county) and local opposition, these plans would then be reconsidered in the eventual project which resulted in the Eglinton Canal^x,xi.

A Short-lived Structure

The structure of the canal consisted of 5 swinging bridges and two locks^xii, however, it no longer contains all of these items today. Due to the railway lines which were built between Galway and Dublin as well as the line from Galway to Clifden, the locks would decrease in usage and eventually, after minimal usage throughout its time in place as a commercial route—for example, only £1 was made on its toll in 1916—the swivel bridges were substituted with concrete bridges only 102 years after its completion in 1954^xiii,xiv. Later, the Parkavara locks were also removed on separate years and in its place now lies a more solid structure to decrease the costs and risks which had been associated with wood rot^xv.

The Canal Now

Since its closure as a commercial trading route, the Eglinton Canal remains in use both for casual fishing and kayaking. Efforts have been made in past years to remove the waterways with two of the more notable instances being in 1954 when local historian Maurice Semple fought for the preservation of the (since removed) locks and in 1967 when historian Peadar O’Dowd established the Galway Waterways Preservation Society to (successfully) block plans which would have replaced the canal and Claddagh basin with a road and car park in their places^xvi. For their efforts both had been added to the honour role of the Galway Waterways Foundation for their respective efforts.

Endnotes

¹ Edward Fox, Michael Leonard, and Peadar O’Dowd, Gaillimh: Mar a Bhí Agus Mar Atá – Galway: Past and Present (Galway: Regional Technical College, Galway, 1979), 6.
² Dick Byrne, Derek Biddulph, and Peadar O’Dowd, Galway on the Bay (Donaghadee, Co. Down: Cottage Publications, 2002), 52.
³ Peadar O’Dowd, Galway City (The Connacht Tribune Ltd., 1998).
⁴ Peadar O’Dowd, Galway City Waterways: A Walking Tour, 1985, 11–12.
⁵ Peadar O’Dowd, Old and New Galway (The Connacht Tribune Ltd., 1985), 13–15.
⁶ Peadar O’Dowd, A History of County Galway (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 2004).
⁷ Patrick Collins, ‘Who Makes the City? The Evolution of Galway City’, Administration 68, no. 2 (1 May 2020): 59–78, https://doi.org/10.2478/admin-2020-0011.
⁸ Editors of the Galway Waterways Foundation, ‘Eglinton Canal’, Galway Waterways Foundation, accessed 2 October 2024, https://galwaywaterways.ie/eglinton-canal/.
⁹ Maurice Semple, By the Corribside (O’Gorman Ltd., Galway, 1981), 61.
¹⁰ Patrick J. Kennedy, ‘The County of the Town of Galway’, Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society 30, no. 3/4 (1963): 90–102.
¹¹ O’Dowd, Old and New Galway, 13–15.
¹² Byrne, Biddulph, and O’Dowd, Galway on the Bay, 52.
¹³ Byrne, Biddulph, and O’Dowd, 52.
¹⁴ Roddy Mannion, Galway: A Sense of Place (Dublin, Ireland: The Liffy Press, 2012), 14.
¹⁵ Editors of the Galway Waterways Foundation, ‘Eglinton Canal’.
¹⁶ Editors of the Galway Waterways Foundation, ‘Honour Roll: Galway’s River and Canal Honour Roll’, Galway Waterways Foundation, accessed 2 October 2024, https://galwaywaterways.ie/heroes/.