Coalisland Canal

About

Coalisland Canal is a waterway from Coalisland town to the Black water river; this is linked to Lough Neagh the largest lake in Western Europe. The group hope to one day reopen the canal fully to commercial and pleasure boats.

Currently the canal is recognised as an area of great beauty, a haven for local nature and an economic resource for the area.

Coalisland Canal (sometimes known as The Tyrone Navigation) is a canal in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland and is about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) long. Construction of the canal began in 1733, but progress was slow and it was not officially opened until 1787. The canal was built to reduce the cost of transporting coal from the Tyrone coalfields to Dublin. An extension known as "Dukart's Canal" was built to link the coalfields of Drumglass with the head of navigation at Coalisland. It opened in 1777, but was an engineering failure, and closed when the main canal opened. After some difficulties with the infrastructure, traffic slowly increased, and did not reach its peak until 1931. Traffic then declined rapidly, and the canal was abandoned in 1954.

There has recently been some interest in restoring the remains, as most of the channel is still intact, and a group has been formed, which is now part of the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland, to raise public awareness of the canal and investigate options for the future. A small boat rally was held on the canal in April 2008.

History

Coal deposits were discovered in East Tyrone at the end of the 17th century, but the coal could not be sold at Dublin, the obvious marketplace, as the cost of its transport made it considerably more expensive than coal imported from England or Scotland. The owners of the mines were mainly based in Dublin, and the first plans to build a canal to the coal-fields were made in 1709. Thomas Knox, a colliery owner, petitioned the Irish Parliament with a plan for a canal from Knock Bridge, near Gifford to Fathom Point, near Newry. The canal broadly followed the line of the later Newry Canal, but althouth a parliamentary committee liked the proposal, nothing came of it at the time.[1]

By 1727, some 60,000 to 70,000 tons of coal were being imported into Dublin, and the idea of supplying that from Irish sources gained popularity. Thomas Prior wrote to support a canal from Dungannon, near Coalisland, in 1727, while two years later, Arthur Dobbs the Surveyor-General outlined the advantages of a canal to Lough Neagh, which he thought could be built relatively easily. In the same year, Francis Seymour, who owned a colliery at Brackaville, near Coalisland, published a pamphlet in Belfast, entitled Remarks on a Scheme for supplying Dublin with Coals. While it supported Knox's scheme from 1709, it also suggested that a canal could be cut across a bog from Drumglass, where many of the pits were located, to join the River Torrent, from where the coal could be transported to the River Blackwater and onwards to Newry.

1729 also saw the establishment of the Commissioners of Inland Navigation for Ireland. They assessed a number of proposals, authorising work on the Newry Navigation in 1731 and a canal from Coalisland to the Blackwater in 1732. The canal would be around 4.5 miles (7.2 km) long, and would run broadly parallel to the River Torrent. Work began in the summer of 1733, with Acheson Johnson supervising the project. Progress was very slow, and the plan suffered from the fact that the head of navigation was still a considerable distance from the pits at Drumglass. A company was created in 1749, led by the Archbishops of Armagh and Tuam, among others, which asked the government for assistance with the construction of 3 miles (4.8 km) of roadway to link Drumglass to the canal. They were awarded a grant of £4,000 to aid the project. By this time, the pits were quite productive, and could have supplied all of Dublin's needs. It was estimated that once the road and canal were finished, the coal could be sold in Dublin for six shillings (30 pence) per ton, around one third of the cost before construction started.[3]

There were difficulties with the construction, and progress remained slow. At Coalisland, a large basin was constructed, which was supplied by a feeder from the River Torrent. The river carried quantities of stones, clay and silt, which clogged the basin, locks and levels once the water entered the canal. Of the seven locks required, the upper two were built on sand, while the lower three were built in a peat bog. Both environments required the sinking of piles and the provision of paved floors to the lock chambers, neither of which were adequately done. The lower reaches were very close to the river, which flooded it when there was plenty of water, and drained it when there was not. While the much longer Newry Canal has only taken ten years to complete, the Coalisland Canal was still not finished, and the work was financed by £25,000, awarded from public funds between 1746 and 1782

Dukart's Canal

Dukart's Canal was built to provide transport for coal from the Drumglass Colleries to the Coalisland Canal, in Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It opened in 1777, and used three inclined planes, rather than locks, to cope with changes in level. There is little evidence that it was ever used, as the planes could not be made to work properly, and they were dismantled in 1787.

History

Coal seams were discovered at Drumglass in the 1690s, and the Tyrone coalfields were seen as a way to reduce the amount of coal imported to Dublin, then amounting to between 60,000 and 70,000 tons per year. Thomas Knox, an owner of one of the collieries, petitioned the Irish Parliament in 1709, to advocate the cutting of a canal to enable the resource to be transported more easily. The canal would have followed a similar route to the later Newry Canal, but nothing came of the plan, although it was well received. The scheme was revived in 1727, and assessed by the Surveyor-General in 1729. Also in 1729, Francis Seymour, the owner of a coal pit at Brackaville, near Coalisland, published a pamphlet in Belfast, titled Remarks on a Scheme for supplying Dublin with Coals. The pamphlet expressed support for Knox's plans of 1709, but also suggested that a canal could be cut from Drumglass to the River Torrent, which would enable small boats to reach the River Blackwater, where the coal could be loaded into larger boats for transport to Newry, and onwards to Dublin.[1]

The Commission of Inland Navigation for Ireland was created in the same year, and authorised the construction of the Newry Canal in 1731. A canal from Coalisland to the Blackwater was authorised the following year, but had the serious disadvantage that it stopped well short of the coalfields. Its construction was extremely slow, and the overland transport of coal to Coalisland increased its cost to customers. To address this situation, a company was created in 1749, prominent members of which included the Archbishops of Armagh and Tuam. They asked Parliament in 1753 for help with building 3 miles (4.8 km) of road, to link Drumglass to Coalisland, and received £4,000 to carry out the work.[2]

It is unclear whether the road was ever completed. In 1760 a Parliamentary Committee asked Thomas Omer to carry out a survey for a canal between the collieries and the Newry Navigation. Although he carried out the survey, he suggested that a more practicable solution would be build a canal to Coalisland Basin. This would need to be just over 3 miles (4.8 km) long, would require 16 locks, and would cost £15,667. The bed of the River Torrent would be used where possible, and Omer began work in 1761. The Committee wanted the canal to be capable of carrying 100-ton ships. Omar passed the supervision of the project on to a British architectural engineer called Christopher Myers in June 1762, who completed around 0.5 miles (0.80 km) of the canal near Coalisland, and built part of the first lock. The waterway was 10 feet (3.0 m) deep, and the lock was 125 by 22 feet (38 by 6.7 m). He then reported to Parliament, outlining the likely cost based on the progress to that point, and concluded that it was impracticable to use the bed of the river. He suggested that a canal of the same gauge as the Newry Canal, capable of taking boats 60 by 12 feet (18 by 3.7 m) and drawing 3 feet (0.91 m), was a more realistic solution, and could be achieved for £18,141, which included the construction of 14 locks and an aqueduct over the River Torrent

It is not known whether the road from Coalisland to Drumglass was completed, but in 1760 a Parliamentary Committee asked Thomas Omer to survey a route from the Newry Canal to the Drumglass coalfields. Although he did so, he also suggested a canal should be constructed from Coalisland to the pits. It would be 3 miles (4.8 km) long, rising through 16 locks, and cost £15,668. His plans were approved in 1761, but the canal was to be capable of handling 100-ton boats. Oversight of the project passed from Omer to Christopher Myers in June 1762, who completed 0.5 miles (0.80 km) of the canal and part of a lock, which was 125 by 22 feet (38 by 6.7 m). He then reported to Parliament on the likely costs for the scheme, and recommended reducing the size to take boats which were 60 by 12 feet (18 by 3.7 m). £5,000 was granted towards the initial construction, but a second opinion on the engineering aspects was sought, and a French-Italian called Daviso de Arcort, also known as Davis Dukart, suggested a radical alternative, using two level sections of canal, largely in tunnel. Coal would be carried in boxes on small tub boats, and the boxes would be lowered down vertical shafts into boats on the canal below.[5]

By November 1767, small sections of the open-air sections had been built, with part of an aqueduct over the River Torrent, at a cost of £3,839. He went back for another £14,457 to complete the scheme, but further discussion followed, the price was increased to £26,802, and the tunnels were abandoned in favour of inclined planes,[6] called dry hurries or dry wherries locally.[7] The inclined planes were to have had rollers fitted on the ramps, but problems were experienced, and following advice from the civil engineers William Jessop and John Smeaton in 1773, various changes were made, including counter-balancing the boats. Still the planes could not be made to work properly, and the rollers were replaced by cradles, running on conventional rails, which carried the boats. Dukart's Canal finally opened in 1777.[8]

The canal was the only place where inclines were used within Ireland's waterways. Legend has it that only one tub boat ever came down Dukart's Canal, in 1778. This exercise was completed to help save him from the accusation of serious misuse of public funds, but the inclines were a failure and were dismantled by 1787. Dukart died in 1785.[7]

Very little remains of the canal. Some masonry and a bridge over an incline still exist.[7] Dukart's name is still linked with Newmills and the Coalisland Canal. The most prominent canal structure still extant is the ashlar stone aqueduct at Newmills, built around 1768, where the canal was carried over the River Torrent.[8] The remains of two of the inclines (known locally as Dry Hurries) are still visible. One can be found in Drumreagh near the Brackaville Golf Course. The largest is on the Quintinmanus Road near Newmills (although this one is largely overgrown and is hard to see). The town of Newmills was built around Dukart's failed canal.

Dukart was in many ways way ahead of his time. Inclined planes are frequently used today in different parts of the world in many different guises. It was a very ambitious gamble that unfortunately for Davis Dukart did not pay off.

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