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The Royal Canal

This section of the website is devoted to the part of the Royal Canal from the 12th Lock, Blanchardstown to the River Liffey,

Boating on the Royal Canal:

Guide to the Royal Canal -
Clickable Map of The Royal Canal;

Tips on Travelling the Royal Canal

Books, Navigation Guides etc. (all-Ireland guides);

Lock-Keepers on the Royal Canal;;

Charges and Fees - also where to get smartcards;

Known Snags on the Royal Canal (Security, Safety, Navigation difficulties etc.);

Rent a Barge on the Royal Canal;

Planned Bridge Lifts

Waterways Ireland
MARINE NOTICE No.29 of 2011
ROYAL CANAL
DUBLIN- NEWCOMEN BRIDGE
OPENING SCHEDULE FOR 2011

The following lifts of the Irish Rail Bridge at Spencer Dock are tentatively planned for 2012:

  • Sat 14th April.

  • Sun 6th May (May BH w/end, boats inbound for rally on Royal)

  • Sun 3rd June (June BH w/end, boats outbound from rally on Royal)

  • Sat 14th July (inbound boats need to be at Lock 5 Friday evening)

  • Sat 18th Aug (inbound for Tall Ships, boats need to be at Lock 5 Friday evening)

  • Sat 1st Sept (outbound from Tall Ships)

These dates have been arranged to facilitate week-end boat traffic, however, four weeks prior notification is required. Timings will also be advised on booking.

For further information, or to make use of a scheduled opening please contact the Waterways Ireland Eastern Regional Office on 353 (0)1 868 0148

Lifts will not happen if there is no demand. 

Hours of Attendance, Summer 2011

The following Waterways Ireland Marine Notice gives the hours of attendance for Summer 2011 for locks 1-17:

Planned Works

Waterways Ireland are planning to Dredge the Royal between Lock 1 (North Strand Road) and Lock 8 (Reilly’s Bridge, South Fingals) - see Invitation to Tender
A Virtual Tour of the City section from the River Liffey to The M50 Aquaduct
Royal Canal, Liffey Entrance Swing Bridge At its Dublin end the Royal Canal is entered from the River Liffey. A new sea lock opened in 2010 (replacing an original constructed in 1873).  Our branch boat was the first boat into the lock in February 2010.
There are obstructions to navigation as follows - for more see the short video and photos here:
  1. Sheriff St. Bridge (clearance is 88" or 2.2m)
    The basin can be lowered to facilitate navigating craft.

     
  2. An Irish Rail bridge is lying in the canal and needs to be manually lifted.  See above for the planned lift times in 2011.
    The photo above shows the bridge in the closed position - the one below shows it open during the 2004 Dublin Rally.

Note that an E.S.B. High Tension cable is no longer an obstruction - former clearance was 54"-63" or 1.37m to 1.6m.

 

Low TideTraffic JamHigh water Croke Park During the 2000 Dublin Rally we had an interesting traffic jam - the railway bridge was removed to allow the boats to pass. This has now been replaced with a lifting structure. Just beyond the new 1st lock the canal passes Croke Park, with its new stadium.
Wooded Section Eleventh Lock The final section of the Royal Canal inside the Dublin area is significant for the radical change of character it undergoes within a remarkably short distance. Between the 10th and 11th lock there is a beautifully wooded section where one might be in the heart of rural Ireland an peace and tranquillity reign supreme until....
Grand Canal and the M50 Aquaduct ... the canal makes a spectacular exit from the city when it leaps across the M50 motorway which rings Dublin on its North, West and Eastern edges in a recently constructed aqueduct.
Commitee Boat, 1994 Rally Twelfth Lock The final lock (the 12th) in the Dublin area is at Blanchardstown and incorporates what remains of Talbot Bridge. The road has been substantially widened but has now been overtaken by the M50 interchange and become a dead end leading to a pedestrian bridge over the motorway. It does however give access to the towpath and to the aqueduct carrying the canal across the motorway affording spectacular views of the whole interchange.
Once beyond the City the Royal canal, like the Grand, reverts to its rural nature and heads peacefully West.
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This page was last modified Monday 16 January, 2012.