The Tralee Ship Canal () is a canal built for freight and passenger transportation from

Tralee Bay Tralee Bay ( gle, Loch Foirdhreamhain / Cuan Thrá Lí) is located in on the west coast of County Kerry, Ireland. It is situated between Kerry Head on the north side and the Maharees on the west and extends eastwards as far as the bridge at ...

to the town of

Tralee Tralee ( ; ga, Trá Lí, ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the Lee River') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in County ...

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The canal fell into disuse in the mid-20th century but has since been restored.

History

The Tralee Ship Canal was built to accommodate larger ships sailing into Tralee as the quay in

Blennerville Blennerville (, meaning "the seat/home of the Morans") is a small village and now a suburb of Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland. It is approximately west of the town centre on the N86 road to Dingle, where the River Lee enters Tralee Bay. The vill ...

was becoming unpractical to use due to

silting Siltation, is water pollution caused by particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments and to the increased accumulation (temporary or ...

, while merchants in Tralee were not satisfied with its facilities at the start of the 19th century. The

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

authorised an

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

in June 1829 for the canal with work beginning in 1832. Issues with funding meant that the canal was not completed until 1846 when it was opened to ships. The canal was in length with a new

canal basin A canal basin is (particularly in the United Kingdom) an expanse of waterway alongside or at the end of a canal, and wider than the canal, constructed to allow boats to moor or unload cargo without impeding the progress of other traffic, and to al ...

built in Tralee, lock gates and a wooden

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...

constructed in Blennerville. Large ships of up to 300 tonnes could navigate the canal but not long after the canal opened it too began to suffer from silting. By the 1880s

Fenit Fenit () is a small village in County Kerry, Ireland, located on north side of Tralee Bay about west of Tralee town, just south of the Shannon Estuary. The bay is enclosed from the Atlantic by the Maharee spit which extends northwards from ...

harbour was built which was a deep water harbour and did not suffer from silting. A railway was constructed soon afterwards between Fenit and Tralee carrying cargo and freight from ships moored there. Due to silting the canal fell into disuse and neglect, and was closed in 1951.

Restoration

Following the restoration of

Blennerville Windmill The Blennerville Windmill is a 21.30 m high, stone, reefing stage, windmill in Blennerville, Co. Kerry, Ireland. The mill has five floors, ground floor, intermediate floor, grinding floor, stone floor and cap floor. History The mill was buil ...

in the early 1990s it was envisaged that the canal could be restored as a tourist attraction. In 1999 the

Office of Public Works The Office of Public Works (OPW) ( ga, Oifig na nOibreacha Poiblí) (legally the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland) is a major Irish Government agency, which manages most of the Irish State's property portfolio, including hundreds of o ...

(OPW) started a restoration project of the canal at a cost of IR£650,000. It involved the excavation of the basin, a new swing bridge constructed at Blennerville, the lock gates being restored and the canal being dredged of silt. The basin area of the canal was subsequently redeveloped with apartment blocks built as part of a proposed marina while the

towpath A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge. This mode of transport ...

along the canal was upgraded and is now used by people as an enjoyable amenity as part of the

Dingle Way The Dingle Way () is a long-distance trail around the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. It is a long circular route that begins and ends in Tralee and is typically completed in eight days. It is designated as a National Waymarked Trai ...

. Tralee Rowing Club use the canal and have a boathouse at the basin. File:Tralee Ship Canal - geograph.org.uk - 268382.jpg, The Basin at the end of the Tralee Ship Canal File:Tralee Ship Canal, Blennerville - geograph.org.uk - 521348.jpg, Looking towards Tralee Bay from the swing bridge at Blennerville File:Sea lock, Tralee Canal - geograph.org.uk - 1415873.jpg, Lock Gate towards Tralee Bay

References

{{Reflist Canals in Ireland Transport in County Kerry Canals opened in 1846