O’Briensbridge on heritage map

Twelve historical artefacts of the Limerick Navigation are included in a new Heritage Guide to O’Briensbridge National Loop Walks.
Produced by the O’Briensbridge Community Group, the informative guide will be officially launched by the group during National Heritage Week and can be downloaded from the discoverireland website.
Following years of dedication, the group has made these artefacts accessible to locals and visitors alike thanks to the O’Briensbridge National Loop Walks.
O’Briensbridge was on the main water route from Limerick to Dublin from 1799 until the last trading boat passed through in June 1929. Group chairman Mick Murtagh recalled that in the late-18th century it was the only significant port between the two ends of the Limerick Navigation, which used three canals and two river sections to bypass the shallows on the Lower Shannon.
“The navigation dates from the days of the horse-drawn barges and left an extraordinary rich heritage of artefacts. It was one of Ireland’s first steamer routes and part of the agricultural export chain that linked the West of Ireland to the British market.
“O’Briensbridge/Montpelier was at the centre of two major energy industries, the turf trade in the 19th century and the Shannon Hydroelectric Scheme in the twentieth. However, the Shannon Scheme ended the very significant role O’Briensbridge had in Ireland’s transport system,” he said.
The capstan, which was used to haul barges up through the navigation arch in high waters, is the first artefact on the Green Loop. An old anchor was found just out from the Capstan recently which is believed to be part of this system. Once the wooden stocks are properly preserved, it is hoped it can be put on display.
The ruins of an old church are visible on The Burnt Island further upstream on the Green Loop and walkers who continue upstream can see a beautiful decorative cast-iron bridge, which was restored by the group.
The ESB Hydro Dam, built in the 1920s as part of the Shannon Scheme, is located at the top end of this loop. The Red Loop and Blue Loop runs from the trail head downstream and as you walk down river, the Heritage Garden, Old Mill Wall and Navigation Wall are located on the right.
The Old Mill Wall is all that remains of a five-storey corn mill built by Hood and Boyd of Glasgow in the 1830s, which gave employment to about 100 men. The famine indirectly caused its closure.
The first of seven very quaint little humpback bridges are located further downstream. The lower wall on the riverside of these bridges was used to accommodate the barge ropes to the horses tackle. McNabs’ bog, where up to 400 men were employed at one stage, is to the left across the other side of the river.
At the mouth of the Errina Canal, the walkway leaves the bank of the Shannon and runs along the canal towards Clonlara village. It is believed Daniel O’Connell  travelled to Westminster this way. Erina Lock, which is reputed to be the only triple lock in Ireland, is located at the end of the Red Loop.