The Cong Canal Today - Visiting a long forgotten Irish waterway...

This canal is better known as 'The Dry Canal' and has remained somewhat of a mystery. Situated in County Mayo this video explores the canal in detail, examines its chequered history, the reason why it gained its unusual name and why it failed.
Below you will find detailed help should you wish to explore the canal yourself. It's a beautiful and very friendly part of ireland so I would recommend that you do...
The website referenced in the video is Irish Waterways History curated by the late Brian J Goggin. The site in general is unparalleled in its coverage of the entire Irish waterways system. Follow this link for the section on the Cong Canal tinyurl.com/3d...
The books referenced in the video are:
By The Corribside by Maurice Semple. Published by the author in 1981. I bought a copy on eBay. It is a fascinating look at the local history of the entire region with many historic photographs and reproductions of old maps. An excellent book.
The Cong Canal - Mystery of an Abandoned Waterway by Peter Dillon. Published by Kenilworth Collins in 2023 in hardback and more recently in softback. It can be purchased online from a few sources. The only book available that focuses entirely on this relatively little known but fascinating waterway. He explores its history in great detail covering not only the engineering challenges (and errors) but also the complex political situation at the time of the Great Famine.
My thanks to Kenilworth Collins for permission to reproduce Peter Dillon's photograph of Lock 1.
Access to explore:
All locations are identified using What3Words.
In the village of Cong the car park is located at:
///blatant.daisies.multilevel
w3w.co/blatant...
Lock 1 is located at:
///oddly.spearmint.mallards
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If you walk south from the car park there is a gated entrance to a private road running parallel to the course of the canal and on its eastern side. The gate is closed at times so you may have to approach or return through the village past the ruins of the Augustinian abbey.
Drumshiel Bridge is located at:
///farewells.perforated.shortening
w3w.co/farewel...
There is space to park a car for a short period as you turn up the lane following the canal on its eastern side.
Carrownagower Bridge (parking) is located at:
///incarnations.vaccinate.shutdowns
w3w.co/incarna...
There's a layby here a short distance to the east of the canal.
Foot access to the sluices:
///espresso.curtain.concessions
w3w.co/espress...
There is a path north from this point that appears on local mapping but I'm not sure if it's a permissive path.
Sluices location:
///fatherland.playroom.depict
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Eel weir access road junction:
///oddly.crawlers.villagers
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Turn onto a minor road here that leads past Ballinchalla Cemetery. The road does extend as far as the weir site but apparently the final parts are not well made. You may wish to park short of that and walk the last bit.
Eel weir location:
///predictive.adjuster.stray
w3w.co/predict...
Music credits:
From uppbeat.io/
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
uppbeat.io/t/t...
License code: EWUYN54PRKETNXO3
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
uppbeat.io/t/t...
License code: STWQ96BEDHHHWSVD
A short excerpt from the BBC LP entitled Narrow Boats issued in 1969

[@rollthetape88]

why did they need a drainage channel? why not restrict this?
why didn't they build a lock at the lake end to stop the water losses?

[@Canalsman]

@rollthetape88 Lough Mask used to flood badly in winter and the original concept was to provide drainage to lessen that problem but in addition permit navigation.
The original route would have allowed controlled drainage using a weir with I presume a lock to bypass the weir. Unfortunately the way it was constructed destroyed the equilibrium because Castle Lake has a limestone floor through which the water permeates continuously (and rises in the vicinity of the town of Cong providing water for the long gone mills). Cutting the channel where they did meant the waters of Lough Mask could enter Castle Lake throughout the year rather than ceasing when the level in the Lough dropped to the level of the shoals seen now high and dry.
Peter Dillon's book explains this very thoroughly and is well worth reading to gain a complete understanding of the huge mistake that was made.

[@philfluther2713]

A reservoir of flora, fauna and memories.

[@Canalsman]

@@philfluther2713 Indeed. It was a delight to explore at length...

[@jaycahow4667]

Nice video, I saw the Cong canal when I visited western Ireland in 1989 and was fascinated by it.

[@Canalsman]

@jaycahow4667 Thank you. It was a labour of love. I've been a canal enthusiast all my life and I felt that this canal deserved more attention. Hopefully this will help.