Dublin - Grand Canal

Length: 80mi/129km

The Grand Canal links Dublin Bay with the Shannon, following a fairly direct westerly course from Dublin, by way of Naas and Tullamore to Shannon Harbor. Differences of height are accommodated by a total of 52 locks.

Construction of the canal began in 1756, and soon afterwards the project was taken over by a Dublin company and carried forward by 1777 as far as the River Morrell, one of the purposes of this section being to improve the city's water supply. Two years later the completed section of the canal was opened to navigation. In 1785 the Barrow Line, a branch canal from Robertstown to Athy, was brought into use. In 1804 the whole canal was completed and the first boats began to ply between Dublin and Shannon Harbor. Thereafter, until the middle of the 19th C., various other branch canals to towns lying near the main canal were constructed. With the development of the railroad system the economic importance of the canal declined, and this decline continued in the 20th C., until in about 1960 commercial traffic on the branch canals came to an end.