Tourism & Commuter Travel on the Grand Canal from 1780 to 1840
Background
Thanks to the owners of the boats that make up Irelands Floating Heritage Fleet, the surviving GCC records and the books published by the Heritage Boat Association (HBA), we are aware of the history of many of the iron and steel trading boats that plied our Canals, Lakes and Rivers over the past 160 years.
The wooden boats from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, on the other hand, have not survived and their history is sketchy. However, there is an account of the years of Passenger Boat travel, written in 1927 by Henry Phillips, the ex-General Manager of the Grand Canal Company, and available on the Kildare Archaeological Society Journal.
This account describes the boats, hotels and coaches used during the Grand Canal Company’s successful Tourism and Commuter service that operated from the 1780s to the 1840s. With the few drawings available from this era, this account brings to life the age of Passenger Travel on the Irish Inland Waterways.
It’s a long read and begins in 1780 in Osberstown, Kildare ……..
[Note: Headings added by Ed.]
The Grand Canal: The Passenger Boats by Henry Phillips – published 1927
Prior to the introduction of passenger boats on the Grand Canal, travelling facilities in Ireland were altogether inadequate for the needs of the country. In 1741 we find that there were only four stage coaches leaving Dublin. These made the journey to Athlone, Belfast, Kilkenny and Kinnegad. A stage chair went to Drogheda. In 1780, when the first passenger boat commenced to run on the Grand Canal between Dublin and Sallins, the only coaches leaving Dublin for the west and south of Ireland were to Kilkenny, four days a week; Limerick and Athlone, twice a week; and to Birr and Banagher, once a week. Travellers going to Cork could get a coach only as far as Kilkenny, and had to proceed from there by post chaise.
Arthur Young in 1779 tells us that the turnpikes were as bad as the bye-roads were admirable, and that it was a common complaint that the tolls of the turnpikes were so many jobs that the roads were left in a state of repair that disgraced the country.
Twiss in 1776, referring to the stage coaches in Ireland, states that there were no stages for horses except on the road from Dublin to Belfast. Later, the journey from Galway to Dublin occupied three days. The first night was spent in Ballinasloe, the second in Kilbeggan, arriving in Dublin on the evening of the third day. Even as late as 1824 Crofton Croker tells us that the horses for the chaises were frequently taken from the plough, and the chaise – or “rattle-trap” as they were humorously called – submitted to a temporary repair, tired horses or a breakdown being treated by the driver with the utmost resignation, s matters of unavoidable necessity.
The stage coach in 1780 was not a pleasant mode of conveyance. Overcrowding was frequent. Up to 1789 coaches had no springs. They were introduced by John Warde, the famous master of foxhounds, and were probably used in Ireland shortly afterwards. In 1790 the first mail coach started from Dublin. At that time difficulty was experienced in procuring drivers competent to manage four horses. Ten English coachmen were then brought over for the purpose of training the native drivers.
Such being the means by which travellers had to make their journeys in Ireland, the Directors of the Grand Canal Company, on completion of the Canal as far as Osberstown (Sallins) in the county Kildare, decided to fit up a boat to carry passengers.
The Directors of the Grand Canal Company, on the completion of the Canal as far as Osberstown (Sallins) in the county Kildare, decided to fit up a boat to carry passengers.
GCC Advertisement 1780
The following advertisement appeared in Faulkner’s Dublin Journal on the 3rd August 1780:
Grand Canal
The Publick are informed that a boat will set off henceforward to Osberstown near Naas on Mondays and Thursdays, from Osberstown to Dublin on Tuesdays and Fridays. The boat will set off precisely at six o’clock in the mornings. Passengers who chuse to go in the covered Division of the boat to pay thirteen pence each, and those who go in the open Division Sixpence ½. Each Passenger to be allowed Thirty pounds weight of Luggage. Packages of moderate size not exceeding three hundredweight to be taken at sixpence per hundredweight.
The running of this boat was a success. In the following year, 1781, we find that a new boat had been built with improved accommodation, there being two cabins instead of one. Fares were increased, 1s.1d. in the Small Cabin, between Dublin and Sallins.
Rules were made, such as the following:
No passenger in the small room to go on the roof of the boat.
One shilling deposit to be made when engaging a seat.
No person in liquor to be admitted.
Persons behaving in an indecent or disorderly manner to be turned out of the boat and to forfeit the price of passage.
Children under the age of one year to pass free.
It was requested that any person who might observe a boatman or lockkeeper guilty of any misconduct or neglect of duty, should give information thereof by letter or otherwise to Richard Baggs, Esq., Secretary to the Company.
In 1782 two more passage boats were built, and in 1783 we find that all the boats were requisitioned for the accommodation of the Volunteers going to the Curragh to be reviewed on the 7th July. At this time the boats were fitted with a mast, yard and sail, with the object of increasing the speed when the wind was favourable. Fires were provided in the cabins, the total cost of the boat and fittings being £150 12s. 4d.
In 1784 the low flat wooden bridges at Hazelhatch, Baronrath and Waterstown were removed, and stone arches erected. It was stated that the passengers on the upper part of the boat in order to save their lives, were obliged to throw themselves down while they passed these bridges. The number of passengers increased steadily and the service proved a serious rival to the stage coaches. A report was circulated that passengers were swept off a boat by not slackening a rope. The Freeman’s Journal was warned by the Company against publishing false statements of this kind.
Boats, Crew & Horses
The boats were 52 feet in length and 9 feet 10 inches in breadth, and in 1792 cost £202. They were built of wood with iron at the water’s edge to prevent damage by ice. Forty-five passengers were carried in the first cabin, and thirty-five in the second cabin. Both cabins had ventilators and were heated by stoves. There was a kitchen and pantry. The seats were furnished with cushions covered with Wilton carpet; pillows and foot-warmers were provided. The other furnishings included looking-glasses, a clock, curtains, and hooks for hats, etc. Framed maps of Ireland showing the course of the canals were hung up in the cabins. Paper, pens and wafers were supplied to passengers at one penny per sheet. Lavatories were situated at the end and centre of boat. Dinner and breakfast service were almost as complete as those provided in a railway dining car at the present day. As many as 42 decanters were carried in each boat. Silver teaspoons were provided.
The crew consisted of a master, steerer, stopman, a boy, and a barmaid. The wife of the master supervised the catering arrangements. Girls waited on the passengers. On one occasion an order was made that saucy girls were not to be employed.
The horses were drawn by two horses with postillions, who in 1802 had hats with gold bands, jackets, and leather breeches. In 1819 their uniform consisted of a blue frock coat, scarlet waistcoat, leather breeches and glazed hat. They were also provided with a grey great-coat. In 1792 the crews wore green coats with black capes, and in 1839 suits of pilot cloth. They were fully armed with pistols and blunderbusses, which were always kept loaded at night, and which they probably had to use on more than one occasion. Boarding pikes were also provided. These were used as arms in close attacks.
As early as 1794 tickets were used. The master for each boat had to keep a book in which the names of the passengers were entered. Waiting rooms, furnished with table, chairs, and looking-glasses, were to be found at the stopping places en-route and a lost luggage office at Dublin. The first boats were numbered, but the service had not long been started when the additional boats, which were soon required for the increased traffic, were named after the Directors, and later, the Lords Lieutenant of Ireland. Directors:- Duke of Leinster, Lord Harberton, Sir John Macartney, Huband, Griffith, La Touche, Pomeroy, etc. Wives of Directors:- Duchess of Leinster, Emily (Lady Cloncurry). Lords Lieutenant:- Marquess of Buckingham, Marquess Cornwallis, Erl Hardwicke, and the Duke of Richmond.
Expansion
The earliest reference to these passage boats – fly boats or Canal packets as they were sometimes called – in accounts of tours through Ireland by Englishmen or foreigners, is that by M. de Latocnaye in his book “A Frenchman’s Walk through Ireland in 1796-7”. He says the boats were very comfortable and resembled those of Holland, but he considered the fares were high. He is very emphatic in his praise of the workmanship of the Canal, being much impressed by the size of the aqueducts.
The success attending the running of these boats made it necessary for the Company to build additional boats to be ready when such extension of the Canal was completed, and so important was this department of the business, that in 1790 the Directors decided to appoint an Inspector of Passage Boats, and in that year John Helden Cowell was appointed to the position.
In 1804, the year the Canal was completed to the Shannon, and by which time the passenger traffic had assumed still larger proportions, Lord Dunboyne was appointed Inspector-General of the Passage Boats.
After the year 1798, the date of the opening of the extension to Tullamore, the town was gradually enlarged and the population increased considerably. The Roman Catholic Church had to be enlarged to accommodate the large number of worshippers in the town which were augmented by the passengers arriving by the canal boats during each week-end. For this purpose, the Canal Company subscribed liberally.
At certain times of the year additional sailings had to be arranged, principally during the Assizes, The Law Terms, Quakers’ Meetings, Ballinasloe Fair, Easter, Whitsuntide, and Christmas. Frequenters of cock fights, which were more fashionable then than at present, made use of the boats as a means of conveyance, the charge for game cocks being 61/2d. per stage.
Refreshments & Journeys
Refreshments were first sold in the boats in 1782, when permission was given for provisions with malt liquor to be sold. In succeeding years great attention was given by the Company to the quality of the food and wines provided. The Inspector of Passage Boats was occasionally to try with a hydrometer the strength of the spirits used, to see that the quality and flavour were good. The seals on the bottles of wine were to be broken only in the presence of passengers. Tea was to cost not less than eight shillings per pound. The regulation that only a noggin of spirits was to be supplied after supper did not mean that there was a limit to the quantity to passengers that partook of supper. Dinner was served at four o’clock, the charge for which in 1821 in the First Cabin was 2s.; breakfast with eggs, 1s.3d.; supper, 1s.3d.; pint of Port or White Wine 2s.4d., and Porter 5d. per bottle. The dinner consisted usually of beef, mutton or fowl. Cranks and epicures were not unknown as travellers. On a complaint being made to the Company of a bad and insufficient dinner, it was proved that it consisted of a rump of beef and a pair of fowls and bacon, on which occasion only four passengers dined. Waiters or boatmen were not allowed to receive gratuities on pain of dismissal. Smoking was not allowed in the cabins or gaming on Sundays.
Mrs Plumtree in 1815 tells us that those who had occasion to travel rapidly, spoke well of the boats as a means of conveyance.
In the “Pleasure Tours of Ireland” 1827, we are told that they were well appointed and accommodated with every necessary refreshment.
Cards were played freely. It having come to the notice of the Directors that the masters of some of the passage boats had played with the passengers, an order was made that should they again receive a similar report, a severe penalty would be imposed. The greatest offender was Cpt Keegan, who it is stated, made a large amount of money by this means, but not by fair play.
In 1809 a child was born in a passage boat. The wife of the lock-keeper at the 18th lock took charge of the mother and child.
John Gough, an Englishman, travelling on the Canal in 1813, pleased at the accommodation both at breakfast and dinner, considered the charge was very moderate, the mode of travelling agreeable and without any fatigue. He enjoyed agreeable and profitable conversation with the other passengers, sitting as comfortably as in a gentleman’s parlour. M. Latocnaye, the Frenchman already referred to, did not find the conversation so pleasing. He states that the boat he travelled in carried a large number of political talkers of the type known in France as mouchards. Seeing that he was a foreigner, one of them spoke to him on matters affecting government. Fearing false interpretation, he responded in ambiguous terms, and in the end found it politic to feign sleep – a very good way to get out of such a difficulty.
Passengers for towns on the branch canals had to change into another boat at the junctions. Those travelling to Mountmellick changed at Monasterevin, and those for Kilbeggan at Ballycommon. Passengers going to Portumna, Killaloe, Limerick, and other stations on the Shannon, travelled by canal to Shannon Harbour and proceeded from there by the Shannon Navigation Company’s steamer to their destination, the fare from Dublin to Limerick 16s. in the first cabin, and 11s.4d. in the second cabin. The steamers were propelled by a paddle wheel at the stern.
By a reduction in fares and acceleration of Mail and Stage Coaches, the introduction of caravans and long cars in the years previous to 1833, a large number of passengers who formerly went by Canal went by road. The Canal Company then decided to build new boats 60 feet in length of a lighter description than formerly, with a view to increased speed. So successful were these boats drawn by three horses, which between the locks travelled ten miles per hour, that in a few years the number of passengers carried was doubled, as many as 100,695 being carried in 1837, and 110,000 in 1844. The day boats made the journey to Shannon Harbour, 79 miles, in 11 hours, and to Athy, 54 miles, in seven and a half hours. The night boats did not travel so fast, the journey to Ballinasloe, 94 miles, taking 19 ½ hours, and to Athy twelve and three-quarter hours. Horses went t times at full gallop, all cargo boats having to give way on their approach.
Jonathan Binns of Lancaster, travelling in Ireland in 1837, says that these swift boats were spacious and conveniently fitted up. Dr. James Johnson tells us graphically in 1844: “The boats pass through a double lock in the ascent in five minutes, and on the descent towards the Shannon in three minutes or less. The dress of the postillions, the measured canter or gallop of the horses, the vibration of the rope, the swell that precedes the boat, and the dexterity with which the men and horses dive under the arches of the bridges without for a moment slackening their pace, all produce a very curious and picturesque scene, such as I have never seen equalled in Holland or elsewhere.
Perhaps the most descriptive account of travelling on the Canalis that given by Sir John Carr in 1805.
“Upon the Canal I found the boat nearly ready, and precisely as the clock struck one the towing horses started and we slipped through the water in the most delightful manner imaginable, at the rate of four miles an hour. The boat had a raised cabin, its roof forming a deck to walk upon. The cabin was divided into a room for the principal passengers, having cushioned seats and windows on each side, and a long table in the middle, and another room for the servants of the vessel, and pantry; the kitchen was in the steerage. From Athy to Dublin by water id 42 miles (Irish); and the setting off and arrival of the boats are managed with great regularity. The passage money is 10s.10d.
The day was very fine, and the company very respectable and pleasant. We had an excellent dinner on board, consisting of a leg of boiled mutton, a turkey, ham, vegetables, porter and a pint of wine each at four shillings a head. We crossed the river at Monasterevan. Our liquid road lay through a very fine country adorned with several noble seats. The opening of the ascending locks having all the effects of a fine cascade, gradually raising us from a dark abyss of embankments of masonry on each side, and of waters roaring upon us in front to the light of day, and to a tranquil level with a rich and fertile country, was to me inexpressibly delightful. We slept at Robertstown, where there is a noble inn belonging to the Canal Company, and before daylight set off for Dublin, where after descending a great number of locks, and passing through a long avenue of fine elms, we arrived about 10 o’clock a.m. All the regulations of these boats are excellent. I was so delighted with my canal conveyance, that if the objects which I had in view had not been so powerful, I verily think I should have spent the rest of my time in Ireland in the Athy boat”
Military
During the rebellion in 1798 immense quantities of military stores were conveyed by the canal, and when the French landed at Killala, the Marquis Cornwallis embarked a considerable number of troops with their baggage, camp equipage, and military stores, and proceeded to Tullamore, where they arrived on the following day, fresh and fit to proceed on their march to Athlone. This first trial of the conveyance of large bodies of troops on the canal, even though sufficient preparations had not been made, was highly successful, and so well satisfied was his Excellency with this mode of conveying troops and military stores, that he ordered the Quartermaster-General to enter into a contract with the Company to provide and hold in readiness a certain number of boats for the use of the Government at an agreed sum of £900 per month. The number of passengers carried during the rebellion increased very considerably, for the reason that movement by canal was considered a safer mode of travelling than by road. During the troublous times in the years commencing in 1801, military guards were put on the boats and guard houses were established at different points along the canal.
Coaches & Hotels
After the completion of the canal to Athy in 1791, it was decided by the establishment of coaches from places on the canal to towns many miles distant from the canal, to increase the number of passengers carried on the boats.
[Ed: This expansion of the services offered by the GCC continued through the 1800s. These Coaches owned by the Grand Canal Company met the Boats at various places along the waterways and brought their passengers to locations away from the canals.]
In 1836 arrangements were made with Bianconi to run his long cars in connection with the passage boats. ……… Bianconi’s service of cars was very satisfactory, and his relations with the Company were of a very friendly nature.
[Ed: Company Hotels were built in 1785 in Sallins, in 1801 at Robertstown and Tullamore, in 1806 at Shannon Harbour and in 1807 at Portobello.
Railways
The railways projected in the ‘forties proved to be a serious menace to the long-established passenger service on the canal. In 1846 the first line to the south was opened to Carlow, and in the following year the boats ceased to run to Sallins, Athy, and Mountmellick. At that time there was no railway service westward to the Shannon. The starting point was then changed to Sallins. Passengers travelled by rail to that station, and then proceeded thence by boat to Phillipstown, Tullamore, Shannon Harbour, and Ballinasloe.
In October, 1851, competition with the railway became so keen that the first cabin fare, Dublin to Shannon Harbour was reduced 6s.6d. ……………. These fares could not be remunerative, and would be incredible but for the fact that there are similar instances in times of fierce competition in later years between other forms of transport.
Further Railway extensions made it unprofitable for the Canal Company to continue running after December 1852, the boats which from 1780 to 1852 – a period of 73 years – had been of such benefit to travellers not only to districts in the neighbourhood of the canal, but to places as far distant as Limerick, Castlebar and Westport.
By having its own hotels and coaching arrangements, the Company may indeed to be said to have been the pioneer of tours in Ireland, the modernized equivalent of which is furnished by Messrs Cook & Son.
Henry Phillips 1927
See also Irish Waterways History