Boyne Navigation History
The Navigation combining the use of the river and a system of canals, runs through the historic landscape of the Boyne Valley and the World Heritage sit of Brú na Bóinne. It literally passes within yards of the Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth monuments, many of the great historic houses of the Boyne Valley and the village of Slane. The navigation was intended to link Drogheda Port with the town of Navan.
The Lower Boyne Navigation system stretching from the tidal reaches of the River Boyne, near Oldbridge, to Slane was built by the Boyne Navigation Company largely during the 1750’s and completed in the 1760. The Upper Navigation from Slane to Navan was completed in 1800.
The total cost of the navigation was £190,000 stg, of which £30,000 was the extent of private contributions, the remainder being public funds. In the financial year ending in April 1844 income for the navigation was only £734, while expenses were £460. So it wasn’t a very profitable enterprise.
David Jebb was the engineer in charge of the construction. He also built a flour mill at Slane in 1766 to take advantage of the navigation. When it opened, it was the largest mill of its kind in Ireland. The mill still dominates the river at Slane but sadly it is no longer in a working state.
Extent and Description of Navigation
The Boyne Navigation includes a combination of the navigation on the river supplemented by a system of canals where it was necessary to by-pass weirs and rapids in the river. These canals combine with 10 river sections to make the river navigable all the way from Drogheda to Navan, over a distance of 30 Km (19 miles).
The Lower navigation has 3 sections of canal between Oldbridge and Slane on the south side of the river and one section, (at Rosnaree) along the north side of the river.
The Upper Navigation has 3 sections o canal along the north side of he river and two on the south side including the long stretch between Stackallen and Navan. This latter stretch incorporates the popular Ramparts walk along the canal tow-path.
At places where the canal towpath switches from one side of the river to the other the horse had to be persuaded to step onto the barge while it was poled across to the other side of the river. Horse bridges were provided where it was necessary for the horse to change sides across the canals. Boats with a draught of 1.4m (4ft 8in) in winter and 1.1m (3ft 6in) in summer could travel on the navigation.
Horse drawn barges & steamers
The Navigation was used mainly by horse drawn barges carrying cargos of agricultural produce i.e. grain and flour and industrial produce such as yarn and lien shipped down to the Port of Drogheda and coal, anthracite and building materials in the other direction. The horse drawn journey from Drogheda to Slane took 7 hours in summer and 6 hours in the winter. Slane to Navan took 7 hours in summer and 4 hours in winter. Originally the toll set to travel the lower section was 1.25 pence per ton per mile and 2 pence per ton per mile on the upper section.
The advent of the canal played an important role in developing the economic potential of the fertile hinterland and encouraged the development of numerous water driven mills alongside the Boyne between Navan and Drogheda. In the latter part of the 19th Century and the early part of the 20th Century the canal company focussed on tourist traffic in coordination with the railways. There were pleasure steamers, for instance, providing day trips from Navan to Slane.
The main cargo on the Navigation was grain, flour, yarn and lien between the numerous mills on the river down to the Port of Drogheda and coal, anthracite and building materials in the other direction. Low waters in the summer, floods in the winter and low tides meant the navigation was not always available when required which adversely affected its commercial potential. Ultimately the railway, built between Navan and Drogheda, in the late 19th century almost guaranteed its decline.
Current Situation
The Navigation passed into private ownership in 1915 and by 1929 it had fallen into disrepair and was inevitable closed due to high maintenance costs and competition from the railways. An Taisce (the National Trust for Ireland) bought much of the Navigation in 1969 from the ten owner Mr John Spicer. The ownership also includes the tow-paths along a number of the canal sections. These tow-paths provide wonderful and easily accessible walks along the Ramparts from Navan to Stackallen, from Slane Bridge to Rosnaree and from Oldbridge Sea Lock to Glenmore. These have been added to by the provision of the Boyne Greenway from Drogheda to the Engineer’s Bridge at Oldbridge.
Not all of the navigation is under the control of An Taisce however. At Oldbridge, the canal section and tow paths are in the ownership of the Office of Public Works (OPW) while the canal sections between Slane and Stackallen are largely in the ownership of the Slane Castle Estate.
Restoration of the Navigation
Part of the Lower Navigation from the Sea lock at Oldbridge to the Lock at Staleen Lower has been completely restored, on a volunteer basis, by the Boyne Navigation Branch of the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland (IWAI), under an agreement with An Taisce and with the goodwill of Meath County Council, OPW and Fáilte Ireland.
This means that navigation is now available all the way from Drogheda as far as the Staleen Lower Lock – which is just across the river from Dowth Hall. It is intended at some future date, when the Boyne Greenway is completed, that walking access will also be availabel along the entirety of the navigation. This will become a marvellous amenity for the people of Meath and Louth and will provide a boost for tourism in the area.
The cost of restoring the navigation is very high and can only be achieved through large heritage and tourism grants. For instance the cost of restoring providing new gates at the Oldbridge Locks was about ¢95,000 which was paid for largel from Meath County Council Heritage Grants. The cost of restoring the Lock at Staleen Lower was about ¢120,000. Funding for this project was largely met by Fáilte Ireland together with grants from the Indaver Incinerator in Duleek and other community sources. Donations from provate sources have also been welcomed.