Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: Ballinasloe

A week of events to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the Heritage Boat Association is already under way at Ballinasloe Harbour.

All welcome to come view the barges, some of which date back to back to 1847, and explore the past of Ireland’s inland waterways with the HBA and the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland’s (IWAI) River Suck branch along with Waterways Ireland and Galway County Council.

Highlights include a heritage tour of Ballinasloe guide by local historian Sean Tully from 7pm this Wednesday 1 June. The 90-minute walking tour covers the history of the Grand Canal and River Suck, and meets at the Heron Sculpture in the harbour at 7pm sharp.

Then Saturday 4 June brings Cruinniú, a family friendly event from 1pm-5pm showcasing Ireland’s cultural heritage with arts and crafts, butter making, a flea circus and a talk on the famous Galway Hooker sailing boats.

Take a look at the historic Bolinder engine, the power plant that replaced horses on the Grand Canal barge fleet, and enjoy music in the harbour all afternoon with the Ballinasloe Town band and Bobby Kilkenny & Friends.

Later on the day, join Dr Christy Cunniffe in the marquee at 5.30pm for a historic talk on the Ballinasloe Grand Canal branch from Fannings lock to Ballinasloe, and at 6.30pm Conor Nolan will give a talk about the Heritage Boat Association.

For more, download the full event brochure HERE.

Published in Inland Waterways

Waterways Ireland advises masters of vessels on the Shannon Navigation that the Heritage Boat Association will be celebrating its 21st anniversary with a rally in Ballinasloe Harbour from Saturday 28 May to Monday 6 June.

Masters of vessels are advised that up to 30 heritage vessels will be moored in Ballinasloe during the 10-day rally. For more see the Facebook event page HERE.

Published in Inland Waterways

Coastal Notes Coastal Notes covers a broad spectrum of stories, events and developments in which some can be quirky and local in nature, while other stories are of national importance and are on-going, but whatever they are about, they need to be told.

Stories can be diverse and they can be influential, albeit some are more subtle than others in nature, while other events can be immediately felt. No more so felt, is firstly to those living along the coastal rim and rural isolated communities. Here the impact poses is increased to those directly linked with the sea, where daily lives are made from earning an income ashore and within coastal waters.

The topics in Coastal Notes can also be about the rare finding of sea-life creatures, a historic shipwreck lost to the passage of time and which has yet many a secret to tell. A trawler's net caught hauling more than fish but cannon balls dating to the Napoleonic era.

Also focusing the attention of Coastal Notes, are the maritime museums which are of national importance to maintaining access and knowledge of historical exhibits for future generations.

Equally to keep an eye on the present day, with activities of existing and planned projects in the pipeline from the wind and wave renewables sector and those of the energy exploration industry.

In addition Coastal Notes has many more angles to cover, be it the weekend boat leisure user taking a sedate cruise off a long straight beach on the coast beach and making a friend with a feathered companion along the way.

In complete contrast is to those who harvest the sea, using small boats based in harbours where infrastructure and safety poses an issue, before they set off to ply their trade at the foot of our highest sea cliffs along the rugged wild western seaboard.

It's all there, as Coastal Notes tells the stories that are arguably as varied to the environment from which they came from and indeed which shape people's interaction with the surrounding environment that is the natural world and our relationship with the sea.