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INLAND WATERWAYS ASSOCIATION OF IRELAND

Cuman Uiscebhealaigh Intire na hEireann

Kildare Branch News

Our Easter Rally this year will take place in Edenderry. We will be joined once again by some members from the HBA. Click below for an entry form and come along and join the fun!

Rally Entry Form.doc

Rally Entry Form.pdf              

For members with small boats, why not join with members of Dublin, Barrow and Slaney branches on Sunday April 11th for a small boat rally to Pollardstown Fen. Full details will follow soon.

KILDARE BRANCH CALENDAR FOR THE YEAR

Branch Meetings

Branch meetings will take place on the first Monday of each month at 7pm in Welds Pub,  Robertstown. The next meeting will take place on Monday March 22nd. All members are welcome to attend.

Your Branch Committee for 2009/2010 is

Write to kildare@iwai.ie to contact any member of the committee by e mail.

Christmas Walk 2009

In the typical 'never say die' attitude of Kildare branch around 30 members braved the sub-zero temperatures on the morning of December 28th to attend the Annual Christmas Walk. The venue this year was in the grounds of the Lyons Estate and along the Grand Canal at the 13th lock. Branch member and local man Reg Beattie gave the gathered faithful some background information on the Lyons house, the estate, and the overflow and weir above and below the 13th lock. Once underway the walk - at times a slide - proceeded down the main avenue and out the gate of the estate turning at Aylmer bridge and heading west along the towpath to the 13th lock. At this point the walkers were joined by Jim Tancred, another local man who had a wealth of information on the history of the area, the uses for the various buildings on the Lyons Estate and the mill, now long since gone. Jim also had a very interesting photograph offering those present a window into the past. He received the photograph from Richard and Mary Shackleton and features William Shackleton and his wife Edith Smithson, boating on the canal at the mill around 1899. The mill at Lyons was destroyed by fire in 1904. Once back within the walls of the estate some very welcome soup, sandwiches, tea and coffee were served in The Village Hall' courtesy of the staff of 'La Serre Restaurant'. La Serre and The Mill Restaurants offer a welcome break to boaters and walkers alike and they can be contacted directly through their website www.villageatlyons.com The branch wishes to thank Reg Beattie & Pa Keogh for organising this years walk and the management and staff of The Estate at Lyons for hosting us and providing the refreshments. 

Click on the images to see a larger size

Reg consults his notes	The brave at the gates	Serenity	13th Lock, Grand Canal	Shakelton's Mill, 13th Lock (destroyed 1904) photo courtesy of Jim Tancred
Awaiting our reward at The Village Hall	La Serre Restaurant, The Village at Lyons	Frozen Canal above the 13th lock	The Village Hall	Elegance at Lyons
Time to think	Aylmer's Bridge	at the 13th lock

 

photos Owen B Kavanagh & Niall Galway

Branch AGM

A report from this year's AGM is available here

Click here to download the Chairperson's Report as an MS Word document

Click here to download the Chairperson's Report as a PDF document

Naas Line:1789 - 2009

The Kildare Branch and HBA thank all involved in making the Naas Canal Festival a huge success.  There were thirty people involved ensuring all went to plan (or nearly so) for the weekend.  Enda and his team from Waterways Ireland did a great job in the two weeks before the event, cleaning the canal and removing many years of lime build up from the lock walls, sills and gates.  Martin, his team and IWAI and HBA volunteers saw all the boats safely through the locks. 

Riversdale Barges had a boat there and generously gave a weekend for four as the prize for the raffle.  A huge thank you to all the skippers and crew, who travelled to the festival.  Thirty three boats made their way to Naas specifically for the event plus there were a few more in the harbour over the weekend. 

 Click on the images to see a larger size

Well blow me down! Popeye makes a guest appearance on 107B	Return of commercial traffic to Naas harbour? the kids try out their turf boats	Corbally line above Naas harbour	Taking a breather on the Corbally line	Crammed into Naas like sardines in a tin!
Away from the hustle and bustle	Hawthorn in apt surroundings	'Rock the boat' anyone?	Limerick Rd, the final frontier....for now	Rush hour at Corbally
Lead boat 72M & friends from the HBA populate the harbour wall

 

photos Adele Kelly & Brian Cregan

There were many highs including the parade of canal boats with crews in costume on Saturday afternoon, there were three generations of pirates on 74M and Popeye made an appearance on 107B; crews were greeted with homemade soup, scones and refreshments in the old canal stores on their arrival; the get together on Saturday evening was great fun with excellent food and entertainment; the boats were lit up in the harbour and Roisin Dubh took the prize for the best lit boat with their seasonal rendition of lit pumpkins. 

There was great excitement on Sunday for the Turf Boat trials and race. Local historians led a walk down the canal describing the history of the area before and after the canal was built; we listened to the put-put-put of the Bolinder engine as 45M arrived in harbour in the afternoon crewed by three generations of Maloneys; there was a wine and cheese reception in the evening with a lovely welcome from the Lord Mayor of Naas Pat Clear, the launch of the HBA’s new book ‘Fine Lines – Clear Water’ and prize giving.  Dick Warner presented the Mick Clinton Perpetual Trophy for the best kept and decorated boat to Ronnie and Mary Byrne of 72M.  On Monday we took a trip up the Corbally Line and returned in time to meet the boatmen who worked on the canal fifty years ago and were having their annual reunion in Naas.  

The best bit of the weekend was the wonderful welcome and interest from the people of Naas.  As was stated at the weekend, the Naas Line, the Harbour and the Corbally Line are a great amenity, part of our industrial heritage and we’ll all be back ... soon.   

The Report from the Kildare Branch EGM held in June 2009 is available here

If you are a member of the IWAI Kildare Branch for 2009 and have not received
the detailed minutes of the EGM by e-mail or post, please email
so we can update your details.

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