Ormond Historical Society to hear talk on importance of the River Shannon 'highway'

The River Shannon was once the great “highway” of Ireland. Over the centuries, longboats, log boats, small sailing crafts and steam-driven steamers and barges have plied its course and the choppier waters of Lough Derg, carrying an array of people, goods and animals.

The fascinating story of transport on the Shannon and Lough Derg is the subject of the Ormond Historical Society’s opening lecture of 2024 on Monday, January 8, next at the Abbey Court Hotel at the usual starting time of 8pm.

This illustrated talk entitled, Long Boats to Barges: Water Transport on Lough Derg and the River Shannon, will be delivered by Reggie Goodbody, an authority on boats, sailing and Lough Derg itself.

Reggie, who lives at Dromineer, has been intimately associated with the lake all his life and ran his own boatyard for 21 years.

Reggie’s talk will describe the topography of the river and its lakes; how the Vikings used it to penetrate the interior of the country.

He will discuss some of the improvements made to the waterway from the mid-1700s to 1929 to aid navigation.

He will also describe the various types of boats that plied the lake through the ages: log boats, long boats, steamers and barges and some of the cargoes they carried.

All are invited to this interesting talk on January 8.