Page 25 - SAFFER 07

Feeding The Monster

canals are generally not terminal but I
must admit to being a little nervous. I
do have extreme confidence in my son
however- after all I am entrusting him
with the love of my life.

Mullingar is eighty five kilometres
(53 miles) and twenty five locks from
Dublin which is a trip that could be
accomplished in three days, but I
suspect it will be spread over nine or ten
days travelling and to a great extent on
weekends only. Canals, in my opinion,
should be navigated at a leisurely pace
without setting goals and taking time to
enjoy the beautiful countryside. Ireland’s
canal towpaths have been turned into
“greenway’s” which attract walkers and
cyclists to the generally flat and traffic
free environment. When boats are seen
moving along the system, it is a bit of
a showstopper. The movement of old
workboats attracts huge interest not only
because of their size but also the history
attached to each of them. Because canal
boatmen and canal company workers,
in general, came from villages along the
line of the canal, the chance of meeting
descendants of these people is high. The
odd passenger on board for a short spin of three kilometres (two miles) which the article was about nourishing a large
between locks can be the start of many a is hard but rewarding work for those animal. “Feeding the Monster” was a
friendship. manning the locks. There are five boats term I coined to describe the words
in the group in Mullingar harbour which and pictures I uploaded daily to a blog
From Mullingar harbour eastwards to means a lock chamber being filled and about a boat journey which gathered a
the first lock is a distance of fourteen emptied forty times to get everyone large number of online followers. The
kilometres (nine miles) which travels through. I would hope that this journey enjoyment I get from telling stories about
for about a mile through a rock cutting is spread over two days and it will be an the waterways is miniscule compared
which is not only narrow but can enjoyable start to our trip to Dublin. to making my way slowly along an Irish
be shallow and consequently a slow canal.
stretch. There follows a staircase of eight I apologise to those of you who have
descending locks in the short distance read this far under the impression that Next month’s article should feature some
live action and a big change of scene
picture wise. Until then, stay safe and
healthy and enjoy whatever life brings
your way.

Joe Treacy.

https://www.facebook.com/heritageboats
https://www.facebook.com/joe.treacy.5
https://www.facebook.com/ben.f.treacy

Editor’s Confession: In last month’s
magazine - on page 26 – I misnamed
the love of Joe’s life! Never, ever will I do
that again – I promise! I am even loath to
point out my slip here – so, let’s just say I
substituted the fifth letter of the alphabet
with the second letter – it should have
been 4.E – and that it will always be!

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