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P J G Ransom's Holiday Cruising in Ireland (David
& Charles, 1971) provides guidance for navigating the Corrib and Lough
Neagh, but it's the only book I have that does so. Jane Cumberlidge, however,
covers them, and the Slaney, the Nore and the Suir, and all the more familiar
waterways in this new and very welcome book.
It is remarkable for its breadth rather than its depth: it
won't replace the navigation guides that most of us carry on our boats, or the
standard histories, but as a single-volume guide to the current status of the
waterways it complements them very well indeed. The layout and design are
attractive and the book is well written.
For the British reader looking for an overview of Irish
waterways, it is by far the best book: a single volume, up to date and
well-researched. Amongst much else, it contains a useful list of hire companies
on both canals and rivers. It also covers the Inland Waterways Association of
Ireland, the Royal Canal Amenity Group, the Ulster Waterways Group and the
Heritage Boat Association, and provides contact information for the navigation
authorities.
The book includes the main sea-loughs of Northern Ireland:
Belfast, Carlingford, Foyle, Swilly and Strangford. I'm not quite sure why,
unless it's to appeal to Scottish sailors. Then there are chapters on waterways
both open and closed (eg Newry, Ulster). I asked a number of Learned Readers to
check those chapters, only to find that Jane Cumberlidge had consulted some of
them during her research: they were happy with the results. Others said that it
was clear that local experts had been called upon, as the coverage of even
minor waterways was impressive, while the historical material testified that
the books listed in the bibliography had been studied.
My favourite section came at the end of the book, where
there is a brief account of abandoned waterways and a listing of "Waterways
that were proposed but either never built or not completed." I particularly
liked the proposed canals from Ballycommon to Tipperary and from Dublin to Dun
Laoghaire, the latter a victim of the coming of the railways.
A huge amount of work has gone into the preparation of this
book and it deserves a place on the shelf of anyone interested in Irish
waterways.
Review by Brian J Goggin , first
published in Inland Waterways News, the journal of the Inland Waterways
Association of Ireland, January 2003 |
