When was the canal re-routed from the Guinness Storehouse?

hatrickpatrick

Probably could have posted this in Dublin City but as the canal is primarily situated in the south and west of the county I thought people here might be more knowledgeable.

I've only recently learned that the canal used to have a large harbour beside the Guinness Storehouse and that the nearby basin street, lane and view areas are named after the canal basin which they used to overlook.

To walk around the area now there is very little evidence that there was ever anything there other than roads and buildings, which suggests that it must have been diverted a very long time ago. Does anyone know when, and why, this happened? I presume the diversion happened at Dolphin's Barn where the canal veers sharply West, and that it was here that it would once have continued North into Rialto?

mikemac1

You've probably been on the old canal already

The old alignment was at Suir Road and followed the path of the Luas. If you look under the bridge at Suir Road luas stop you can see it turns sharply. The canal would have turned north to James St a little later then the Luas does

If that's what you mean by Dolphins Barn then sorry, I don't know exactly where that area begins

James Street was full of breweries including Arthur J who moved from Leixlip to Dublin. Guinness used canal water for their brewing process and after the canal was gone they still used canal water. There are two ponds behind the Park West apartments, drowning hazards for kids tbh but anyway

Loads of pics and a little map on Irish Waterways site

http://irishwaterwayshistory.com/abandoned-or-little-used-irish-waterways/waterways-in-dublin/the-abandoned-main-line-of-the-grand-canal-2/
http://irishwaterwayshistory.com/abandoned-or-little-used-irish-waterways/waterways-in-dublin/the-abandoned-main-line-of-the-grand-canal-2/

dogmatix

I have an ordnance survey map of Dublin from the early 1960's showing the canal extension still in existence at that stage (although the map data might have been taken from the 1950's).

A new book "Dublin 1847: City of the Ordnance Survey" gives good info on this section of Dublin (as it was in 1847 but still interesting).

hatrickpatrick

dogmatix wrote: »

I have an ordnance survey map of Dublin from the early 1960's showing the canal extension still in existence at that stage (although the map data might have been taken from the 1950's).

A new book "Dublin 1847: City of the Ordnance Survey" gives good info on this section of Dublin (as it was in 1847 but still interesting).

Got a picture of this?

hatrickpatrick

mikemac1 wrote: »

You've probably been on the old canal already

The old alignment was at Suir Road and followed the path of the Luas. If you look under the bridge at Suir Road luas stop you can see it turns sharply. The canal would have turned north to James St a little later then the Luas does

If that's what you mean by Dolphins Barn then sorry, I don't know exactly where that area begins

James Street was full of breweries including Arthur J who moved from Leixlip to Dublin. Guinness used canal water for their brewing process and after the canal was gone they still used canal water. There are two ponds behind the Park West apartments, drowning hazards for kids tbh but anyway

Loads of pics and a little map on Irish Waterways site

http://irishwaterwayshistory.com/abandoned-or-little-used-irish-waterways/waterways-in-dublin/the-abandoned-main-line-of-the-grand-canal-2/
http://irishwaterwayshistory.com/abandoned-or-little-used-irish-waterways/waterways-in-dublin/the-abandoned-main-line-of-the-grand-canal-2/

This is exactly what I was talking about, yes. What I'm wondering is when was this area filled in? As I say, if you look at his hand drawn map it looks like the whole area around Basin Street / Lane / View (had a debate about the real name of this street a few weeks back, doesn't seem to be any firm consensus) was once filled with water - it's now filled with buildings and some of them look very old.

Someone said this section of the canal was closed in 1974, but if that was the case how long did it take for the infilled parts around Grand Canal Place to be built on, and why do the aforesaid buildings look far older than 1974?

coylemj

You can see the Luas line and how it uses the route of the canal if you click on the link below and in the grey box in the lower-right, flip between 'Street Map (beta)' which shows things as they are today and 'Historic 6" B&W' which will show you the old branch of the Grand Canal which ran into the St. James Gate brewery.

http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,713400,733462,6,3

Edit: On a slightly pedantic point, the canal was never 'rerouted' from the brewery. That line to the brewery would have been categorised as a 'branch line' - an extension off the main line which terminated at a harbour i.e. a dead-end. Similar (if longer) branch lines were built to purpose-built harbours in places like Kilbeggan (partly restored) and Mountmellick (closed). What happened over time was that most of the branch lines were filled in and the land reclaimed.

L1011

coylemj wrote: »

That line to the brewery would have been categorised as a 'branch line' - an extension off the main line which terminated at a harbour i.e. a dead-end. Similar (if longer) branch lines were built to purpose-built harbours in places like Kilbeggan (partly restored) and Mountmellick (closed). What happened over time was that most of the branch lines were filled in and the land reclaimed.

Interestingly the Brewery line was considered the mainline by the Grand Canal Company itself and what we now see as the mainline was the "circular line", a branch.

dogmatix

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

Got a picture of this?

I'll try and scan it in tonight. The map is dated 1964.

cobham

The original plan for the canal was for it to terminate at the back of James street. As well as providing transport, its other role was to bring fresh water from springs rising in Kildare to city of Dublin. There was a large resevoir or city basin (see Basin Street) nearby on what is now I think the grounds of James Hospital. There were many warehouses and offices surrounding the body of water that was Grand Canal Harbour. Some of these are still there. It was a busy place in the heyday of the canal. The coming of the railways (c 1850) marked the start of the decline in canal use and the last cargo boat on the canal was in 1960's.

The canal was later extended to Portobello where there was another small harbour now filled in but still 'open' and with outlines of drydocks marked on ground. There was the Portobello hotel here and this was also the start point of a passenger service twice a day to the midlands.

A later extension brought the canal to Ringsend and linked it with the river Liffey. Guinnesses used the canal system to bring in raw materials to James Street and also to transport kegs to the midlands and also up to the mouth of the Liffey where their seagoing boats were located. In 187o Guinness extended their site down to the Liffey from James Street and then had direct access to the river at Victoria Quay. It was from here that they transported kegs down river to their ships nearer the mouth of the river.