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Site lasted updated on Hrs. INLAND WATERWAYS ASSOCIATION OF IRELANDCuman Uiscebhealaigh Intire na hEireannKildare Branch NewsNext branch meeting Monday February 6th at 7pm in Welds Pub, Robertstown Christmas Walk 2011 "They came from far and wide, on a cold
grey Thursday morning, to journey across the Liffey from Grand
Canal Docks (GCD) in Ringsend to the renowned ‘Effin’ Bridge on
the Royal Canal.”
Kildare Branch AGM 2011 The minutes and reports from this years AGM are now available to download. Please click on the links below. Minutes AGM 2011.pdf Accounts 2010 - 2011.pdf Secretary's Report 2011.pdf Offaly Branch - Know Your Boat Course For details, click here Naas Canal Festival 2011 - a truly Spooktacular event! report Alan Kelly, photos Pa Keogh, Owen Kavanagh & Conor Nolan The branch closed its cruising season with its ever popular ascent to (or descent on) Naas harbour. This year’s event coincided with the Halloween bank holiday weekend and this theme was present for the duration of the event. Naas Canal Festival 2011 opened on Friday October 28th. 15 boats representing Kildare, Dublin, North Barrow, Lagan branches and the HBA arrived without too much trouble into Naas harbour assisted by branch volunteers & Jenny Blackford and her Waterways Ireland crew. The presence once again of large barges highlighted the need for regular maintenance and upgrade of lock gates and chambers on the line. Kildare branch continues to work with Waterways Ireland to improve this situation year on year for our Heavy Metal friends.
The branch located its festival headquarters in the old Canal Stores building which was made available by Kildare Youth Services and many thanks to them for their generosity. Even though the weather was largely good for late October, the availability of this wonderful building allowed those attending by boat to mingle with Naas natives and relate stories about our waterways heritage. On Friday evening Festival participants were joined by guests Cllr Seamie Moore & Cllr Anne Breen, Naas Town Council and Paddy Behan & Larry Breen, Naas Historical Society at a cheese & wine reception. The subject of the Corbally branch (Herbertstown Line) of the canal was raised. The unstinting commitment of boaters to the re opening of this fine stretch of waterway was evident and the Councillors present have promised to revisit the issue of the culverts currently blocking navigation.
Cllr Seamie Moore
Saturday was a relaxed day to begin with and a number of attendees paid a visit to the Farmers Market in Naas town. Registration took place at lunchtime in the Canal Stores building accompanied by soup and home baked breads thanks to Teresa, Jill & Jenny. The Halloween theme was very much to the fore later on Saturday with a very tasty and highly entertaining fancy dress barbeque taking centre stage. Guest chef for the evening was Jimimah (sorry Jim, couldn't resist!)
Jimimah prepares to cook
Sunday morning saw a large group take a walk to Corbally harbour to see recent works carried out by Waterways Ireland and branch volunteers. Some walkers thought that closer inspection of the canal bank was necessary and the results of this investigation are clearly visible in the photos below!
%20Pa%20Keogh.JPG "The group at Corbally harbour")
The group at Corbally harbour
All agreed that the harbour could easily be maintained and plans are afoot for regular work parties in the coming months. This will further highlight the potential that a reopening of this waterway holds for the local community and waterway users alike. Our sincere thanks go to Waterways Ireland and to the landowners in Corbally for their support. Festivities wrapped up with prizegiving and refreshments in the Townhouse Hotel Naas. Among the prizes awarded were the crew of Hazy Days for the furthest travelled and outgoing treasurer Adele Picard was the recipient of the Mick Clinton perpetual award for service to the branch as Chairperson and Treasurer over the last few years.
Niall presents a prize to Billy.... The branch wishes to thank all the businesses who sponsored prizes for this year’s festival. Well done to all who made the journey by boat and to all members, potential members and non members who helped to make Naas Canal Festival 2011 one to remember. It truly was a Spooktacular event! Prizewinners 2011
Easter Rally & Cruise in Company Eleven boats travelled in glorious sunshine to take part in our Easter Rally and Cruise in Company. Arriving in Rathangan on Easter Saturday the fleet was made to feel very welcome by the local people, many of whom stated that it had been a long time since so many boats had chosen Rathangan as their destination. Branch officers and members soon got to work assembling our portable Rally Headquarters and the Kildare bunting was once again flying freely.After registration and a cheese and wine reception we were hosted by Ruth Conlon and The Burrow pub for a table quiz. After a judges inquiry (possibly as a result of too much wine earlier) winners were declared and the night continued quite late for many. Somebody else who must have had a late night was The Easter Bunny as he left the eggs that surely were meant for the boats all over the towpath! Luckily though, our secretary ensured that each rally participant received an ample supply of chocolate direct to their boat.
After breakfast on Easter Sunday the fleet cruised on to Bell Harbour in Monasterevin where the presence of the boats was also commented on favourably by many locals. The events of the day included an Easter Egg Hunt and the ever popular Kildare barbeque. The Endeavour Cup this year was awarded to Michael Kemp of Peacock for long service to the branch. By nightfall Bell Harbour was a blaze of light and flags providing a fitting end to a different type of Rally for the branch. We hope to do something similar next Easter so keep in touch for more details. Branch Meeting Our next branch meeting will take place on Monday August 8th at 7pm in Weld's Pub. All are welcome Lowtown CIC - Saturday March 19th On Saturday March 19th, a fleet of boats that had been assembling from St Patrick's Day in Robertstown, made the short journey to lock 19 (the new one!) at Lowtown. Here the branch were hosted by Ian Brabazon and Leon Behan of Vita Marine for a start of season gathering. Vita and their team had done a wonderful job preparing the old chandlery for use as a base for our event. We had Kildare branch bunting and banners onhand to create that carnival atmosphere. All present from the very young to the very young at heart were treated to assorted nibbles courtesy of Giles and Jill Byford and this was followed by the Ireland v England rugby match. When the 'old enemy' had been served their just desserts, we moved onto the main course of barbeque under the watchful eye of chef Jim Connolly. Vita also had some tempting deals for all boaters and many people went away with a bargain or two. The branch was delighted once again to be joined by members of the HBA in advance of their departure for the Barrow and the Tall Ships in Waterford.
Christmas Walk 2010 Kildare Branch Christmas walk, 27-12-2010 This years Christmas walk took us back to Naas town. The thaw had cleared the snow and made for a pleasant morning. With Paddy Behan and Liam Kenny from the Naas Historical Society and about 20 branch members we assembled at the harbour. After a brief history of the harbour we proceeded north along the canal to Abbey Bridge, Locks 5 and 4 and Tandy’s Bridge. Paddy and Liam bombarded us with facts and figures on the canal (Lock 5 is 302.2 feet above sea level) and the surrounding estates. They are passionate Historians and we are grateful to them, as they oblige us every time we visit Naas. The rain held off long enough to make it back to the Town House Hotel for soup and sandwiches. A few words of thanks from our chairperson Jim Connolly to all who made the effort to attend, especially Dr Taryn Kinahan Mc Donagh and her husband Dr John Mc Donagh who were home from America for the first full Christmas gathering of the Kinahan clan in 9 years! The Dr’s also introduced the walkers to ‘Geocaching’. Check out www.geocachingireland.com for more info on what that is all about. Huge thanks were also paid to Naas Historical Society who have been associated with Kildare Branch for over 26 years and continue to support the branch with infectious enthusiasm in all of its activities in the Naas area. Pa Keogh
photos by Jim Connolly Lowtown Cruise in Company Details will be available here shortly on our CIC to Lowtown scheduled for Saturday March 19th. Kildare Branch AGM 2010 The minutes and reports from this years AGM are now available. Accounts.pdf Secretary.doc Secretary. PDF Your Branch Committee for 2010/2011 is
KILDARE BRANCH CALENDAR FOR THE YEAR
Report from the Naas Canal Festival October 22nd to October 25th 2010 Following on from last years Naas Canal Festival, a larger than expected fleet ascended the flight of five locks into one of Kildare’s busiest harbour towns for the October Bank Holiday weekend. Boats travelled from all parts of Kildare and from as far away as Shannon Harbour and Clondra. Members of IWAI, HBA, RCAG and the newly established Irish Residential Boat Owners Association (IRBOA) were strongly represented and the usual support from Waterways Ireland staff and Kildare branch volunteers ensured that every vessel and crew made it safely into Naas harbour, despite rain and darkness. This year’s festival was officially launched by the Mayor Seamie Moore. He welcomed the fleet to Naas and spoke about plans for further development of the harbour area and the Corbally branch line. Kildare branch used this opportunity to unveil a new burgee and bunting and also a new rally plaque. HBA Chairperson Paul Martin made a presentation to lock keeper Billy Mc Cormack in recognition of the part he played in the HBA re enactment earlier this year of 51M’s last journey with cargo out of Dublin.
The Canal Stores building was once again donated by Kildare Youth Services for the duration of the festival and Waterways Ireland set up an impressive display indoors, showcasing Ireland’s waterways. Outdoors was a hive of activity too with the IWAI Trailer, the RNLI and Dermot Johnson of Ted Johnson’s Hardware, who had a busy day Saturday displaying his fine range of chandlery. Many thanks to all of the above organisations for ensuring that this event was more colourful than ever. Saturday evening got underway with the ever popular Barbeque and most impressive apart from the meat was the very wide range of bring you own salads. Regardless of your persuasion for meat or not, entertainment continued until the very early hours.
Sunday began in the ‘quite early for some’ hours with a small boat rally headed for Corbally harbour, some seven miles from Naas. This event involves not just boating skills but lifting skills as well. To the bemusement of traffic the fleet of dinghies walked across the Naas to Newbridge road – which culverts the canal at this point – and then continued on their journey to Corbally. After a long battle with weed, the brave explorers walked the remaining distance from the second culvert into Corbally harbour. The branch would hope to organise a number of work parties next year in Corbally harbour as it is quite badly neglected at the moment. Check out www.kildare.iwai.ie for details in the New Year.
The Naas Canal Festival 2010 rounded off with prize giving and finger food in the Townhouse Hotel. Awards of note were given to Ronnie and Mary Byrne of 72M for their mammoth journey from Clondra to Naas and to Teresa Keogh and Reg Beattie for being there whenever and wherever anything needed to be done. Thanks especially for the Soup and Brown bread Teresa! The Mick Clinton Memorial Award was presented to Giles and Jill Byford of Hawthorn for their support of Kildare branch and their contribution to life on the waterways through their canopy business and their online blog. Photographs by Owen Kavanagh & Pa Keogh
IWAI Offaly Branch 'Know Your Boat Courses 2010 - 2011' Details of this years courses are available to download here. Waterways Ireland proposed draft Byelaws The branch committee has made a submission to the IWAI Executive in relation to the draft Byelaws. This submission highlights serious flaws with some of Waterways Ireland's proposals and provides alternative suggestions for consideration. The Byelaws are available to read below and you can make any comments you wish in relation to these proposals during phase 2 of the consultation process, due to commence when phase 1 and any redrafts have been completed.
Robertstown CanalFest Greetings from Kildare and we hope everyone is enjoying this year’s boating season wherever on the system you may be. The big event in Kildare recently was the Robertstown Canal Fest on the banks of the Grand Canal. This festival organised by a local committee was a lively affair with a mix of novelty events, live music from local talent and good craic in Robertstown’s many pubs. The festival opened on Saturday July 24th at 1:30pm with the arrival of Pat Mc Grath and team who had undertaken to swim the Grand Canal from Shannon Harbour to Robertstown in aid of St Brigid’s Hospice in The Curragh, Co Kildare. The musical highlights of the day included Bun os Cionn and Swamp Monsters, both featuring the talent of local singer and musician Glenda Mc Cormack. Sunday’s sounds included our own Ger Loughlin, in fine voice as ever. A number of boats from Lowtown and Sallins moored in Robertstown for the weekend adding to the colour of a well supported festival. Congratulations to the festival committee on a job well done and we look forward to next year’s event.
Don’t forget that the Naas Canal Festival will be taking place on the October bank holiday weekend. Lots of fun for young and old is promised so come along with or without your boat. You will be very welcome.
For reports on recent rallies and walks check out the Rally Archive. Do you need new fenders? Now is the time to kit out your boat with those few bits that you put on the very long finger. If fenders are included on your list then have a look at these home made specimens below. For more information and prices etc contact Alan Glass on 087 9197274.
A very satisfied boater Branch PRO Pa Keogh brings this message from the winner of the Draw held during last year's Naas Canal Festival, Ms Lucy Fagan.
'Hi this is Lucy that
won the Riversdale barge weekend with the ticket i bought in
Naas last October weekend,
just wanted to let you
know we went on the trip recently and had a wonderful time,
it was everything and
more than we had dreamed of, we are hooked on barges now for
sure.
Thank you so much,
Lucy.'
KILDARE BRANCH CALENDAR FOR THE YEAR
Branch MeetingsBranch meetings will take place on the first Monday of each month at 7pm in Welds Pub, Robertstown. All members are welcome to attend. Your Branch Committee for 2010/2011 is
Write to kildare@iwai.ie to contact any member of the committee by e mail.Branch AGM 2009A report from this year's AGM is available hereClick here to download the Chairperson's Report as an MS Word documentClick here to download the Chairperson's Report as a PDF documentThe Report from the Kildare Branch EGM held in June 2009 is available hereIf
you are a member of the IWAI Kildare Branch for 2009 and have not
received
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%20Pa%20Keogh.JPG "The group at Corbally harbour")
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%20with%20Lucy%20Fagan%20Naas%20winner%20of%20weekend%20on%20a%204%20berth%20barge%20sponsored%20by%20riversdale%20barges%20photo%20by%20Teresa%20Keogh.jpg)