A Spring Evening on Strabane Canal, Co. Tyrone, 7 May 2018, v1 Short
The full version of this video is available on YouTube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aGNDr3sEgA
Strabane Canal was a short 4 mile long canal located in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It connected the market town of Strabane to the navigable River Foyle and thence to the port of Londonderry on the north coast. Strabane Canal was conceived by the Marquess of Abercorn as a way of encouraging industrial and commercial development in Strabane and its immediate surroundings, most of which was within his estates. The project cost £11,858, was privately funded by the Marquess, assisted by a loan of £3,703 from the Irish Goverment.
The canal ran from the tidal waters of Lough Foyle at Leck, some 9.9 miles upstream to Strabane and was designed to accommodate sea-going schooners, capable of carrying 300 tons of cargo. The canal left the Foyle just above its junction with the Burndennet River, to enter Campsie's Lock. The main water supply was from a stream which entered the canal above Devine's Lock, the only other lock built.
Construction began in late 1791 and most of the canal was completed within a year, but construction of the locks and the junction with the Foyle took much longer, and was finally completed in 1795. An official opening took place on 21 March 1796, amidst great celebrations. The "respectable inhabitants" ate at the Abercorn's Arms, and proposed many toasts, while ale was supplied to the general populace, and there were bonfires and illuminations.
Due to economic conditions and a lack of maintenance the canal closed in 1962.
In June 2006 the Strabane Lifford Development Commission paid for a £1.3m cross-border waterways restoration. The project was launched by Mary McAleese (President of Ireland) in Lifford and involved the restoration of 1.5 miles of the canal and the two locks to working order. WikipediA
A Spring Evening on Strabane Canal, Co. Tyrone, 7 May 2018, v1 Short
The full version of this video is available on YouTube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aGNDr3sEgA
Strabane Canal was a short 4 mile long canal located in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It connected the market town of Strabane to the navigable River Foyle and thence to the port of Londonderry on the north coast. Strabane Canal was conceived by the Marquess of Abercorn as a way of encouraging industrial and commercial development in Strabane and its immediate surroundings, most of which was within his estates. The project cost £11,858, was privately funded by the Marquess, assisted by a loan of £3,703 from the Irish Goverment.
The canal ran from the tidal waters of Lough Foyle at Leck, some 9.9 miles upstream to Strabane and was designed to accommodate sea-going schooners, capable of carrying 300 tons of cargo. The canal left the Foyle just above its junction with the Burndennet River, to enter Campsie's Lock. The main water supply was from a stream which entered the canal above Devine's Lock, the only other lock built.
Construction began in late 1791 and most of the canal was completed within a year, but construction of the locks and the junction with the Foyle took much longer, and was finally completed in 1795. An official opening took place on 21 March 1796, amidst great celebrations. The "respectable inhabitants" ate at the Abercorn's Arms, and proposed many toasts, while ale was supplied to the general populace, and there were bonfires and illuminations.
Due to economic conditions and a lack of maintenance the canal closed in 1962.
In June 2006 the Strabane Lifford Development Commission paid for a £1.3m cross-border waterways restoration. The project was launched by Mary McAleese (President of Ireland) in Lifford and involved the restoration of 1.5 miles of the canal and the two locks to working order. WikipediA