Introduction to the Royal Canal
Information taken from The Office of Public
Works leaflet "Along The Royal Canal-Dublin to Mullingar".
Dublin
The Royal Canal joins the river Liffey at Spencer
Dock on the East Wall between the International Financial Services Centre
and the Point Depot. This was once a wide stretch of canal about half a
mile long but it has now been partly filled in and narrowed. The sea-lock
has not been restored and so the level to the first lock on North Strand
Road is tidal. The canal rises quickly with five double locks in just 1.5km
(about 1 mile) from Binn's Bridge to just west of Cross Guns Bridge.
Binn's Bridge was called after one of the first
directors of the Royal Canal Company. He previously had been on the board
of the Grand Canal Company and is the only person to have a bridge called
after him on both canals.
The Deep Sinking
Canal lore tells that the Duke of Leinster, one of
the directors of the Royal Canal Company, wanted a harbour at his estate
at Carton, and to please him the canal was cut through the solid rock of
Carpenterstown Quarry, west of Blanchardstown. This is known as the Deep
Sinking, and in some places the towpath is 10 metres (30 feet) above the
canal.
In fact it is more likely that the Royal Canal
Company, underestimating the time and expense involved in building the
Deep Sinking and the Ryewater Aquaduct in Leixlip, chose to bring the canal
through Maynooth rather than travelling out of Dublin on a more northerly
route.
The canal banks in the deep sinking are wooded
in places and the path narrow, so care is necessary when walking. Where
the banks are grassy plants can be found that grow only on limestone soils
- Carline Thistle, Cowslips and Pyramidal Orchids.
Leixlip
Unlike the other aqueducts on the Royal Canal, the
Ryewater Aqueduct is not made of stone: it is a massive earth embankment
about 30 metres (100 feet) above the river.
In the 1790s the workmen building the embankment
discovered ireo-rich springs which were developed as a fashionable spa
in the nineteenth century. Today they support a rich community of marsh
plants and animals in a series of terraces between the canal and the river.
The spa at Leixlip was built to exploit the
mineral-rich springs discovered by the builders of the Ryewater Aqueduct.
Enfield
On the north bank of the canal at Enfield a formal
park has been laid out around the newly restored harbour.
On the south bank the towpath runs through a range
of natural habitats - grassland, scrub on the embankment slope, and shaded
woodland where primroses grow in springtime. The vegitation along the water's
edge is dominated by rushes rather that reeds.
Kilmore Bridge - Moyvalley Bridges
Between Kilmore Bridge and the two bridges at Moyvalley
the canal runs through woodland. Woodland plants flower in spring time,
before the leaves grow on the trees and block out the light. Primroses
and Wood Sorrel are both common in April and May, while Wild Strawberries
can be found later in the year.
There used to be a canal hotel at Moyvalley, but
its ruins were demolished in 1977 when the new bridge was built.
Longwood
There are two aqueducts near Longwood. The western
aqueduct crosses the River Boyne. The eastern aqueduct is unusual in that
it carries the canal over a road rather than a river.
The old canal cottage at Longwood harbour &
The aqueduct which carries the Royal Canal over the River Boyne near Longwood.
There is a small harbour at Longwood, and the
ruins of a canal cottage built to the same design as the lock cottages
which can be found along both canals.
Killucan & Thomastown Harbour
Between Thomastown Harbour and Footy's Bridge a distance
of on ly 3km (nearly 2miles) there are eight locks, rising steadily to
the summit level - the highest section of the canal, some 98.9 metres (324
feet) above sea level.
Mullingar East
Just east of Mullingar the canal cuts through limestone
rocks in a deep, wide cutting. The canal banks are steep and high, and
at their base is a narrow band of marsh plants - Great Spearwort, Mint
and Water Cress. These plants grow in shallow water, and are not very common
along canals where the banks are usually straight and the channel deep
even at the water's edge.
Orchids and pther wild flowers which grow in the
cutting depend on the limestone soil and on the cattle which maintain the
grassland by grazing.
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