CANALS. Ill 



in length by 20 feet in width. The depth of water on the cills is 8 feet. 

 The Lower Bann is the only outlet for all the water falling into Lough 

 Neagh. The works of the Upper and Lower Bann were, together with 

 those of Lough Neagh, executed by the Commissioners of Public Works as 

 both a navigation and a drainage work, between the years 1845 and 1859, 

 at a total expense for the three navigations, according to a return made by 

 the Commissioners, of ;^ 106, 175, of which £6^,0"/^, was a grant of public 

 money. The balance has been repaid out of county rates. A branch of the 

 Northern Counties Railway runs parallel to the Lower Bann on the east, at 

 an average distance of six miles for its whole length, and the Derry Central 

 Railway runs parallel to it on the west, both railways competing with it for 

 traffic. A railway is also projected from Ballymena to Portglenone. The 

 works of the Lower Bann were handed over in 1859 to two bodies of trus- 

 tees — one whose duty it was to maintain the navigation works the other 

 whose duty it was to maintain the drainage works only, and whose authority 

 extends over the drainage of both the Upper and Lower Bann. They are 

 called respectively the Navigation and Drainage Trustees. Both sets of 

 works are maintained by local taxation, supplementing the receipts from 

 water traffic as regards the expenditure of the Navigation Trustees. Lord 

 Monck's Commission took in 1882 a distinctly pessimistic view of the pos- 

 sibilities of developing traffic on this Navigation. " The average annual 

 expenditure on the Lower Bann Navigation for the five years ending 30th 

 June, 1880, was £1,1^^ 15^". ^d. The average annual receipts from tolls, 

 wharfage, rents, etc., for the same period were £gi l^s. id. The deficit 

 has been supplied by an annual presentment, made by the grand juries of 

 the adjoining counties. These figures show that the navigation works have 

 been practically maintained and the expenses connected therewith paid, 

 not out of funds derived from traffic on the canal and river, but by local 

 rates. We are satisfied from the evidence submitted to us that there is no 

 reason to expect any considerable increase in the traffic. The testimony on 

 this point is, in our opinion, conclusive." 



The Ulster Canal, extending from Blackwatertown to Lough (Upper} 

 Erne, was made by a company, formed in 1826 under 



The Ulster Canal. ^ ^^°- ^^•' ^\ '93- J^e ^o^ks took about fifteen 

 years to complete, and absorbed over i, 200,000 m 

 capital, towards which the Government advanced on 

 loan £"130,000. When the canal was opened in 1841, the traffic proved 

 unremunerative, and the water supply defective. In 1851 the Public Works 

 Loan Commissioners took possession of the property as principal mort- 

 gagees, and proceeded to lease it, first to a private individual (Mr. Dargan), 

 and subsequently to the Dundalk Steam Navigation Company. While 

 under the management of this company, the canal works fell into very bad 

 repair, and indeed became almost derelict. On the expiration of this com- 

 pany's lease in 1865, it was determined (but only after much hesitation), to 

 vest the canal and undertaking in the Board of Works, Ireland, who were 

 of opinion, in opposition to that of Sir John Ivlacneill in 1861, that it was the 

 deficiency of water, and not the railway competition, which had prevented 

 its being remunerative. The transfer was effected by 28 & 29 Vic, c. 109. 

 After an additional outlay of nearly ;£"20,ooo on the supply of water, the 

 'canal was re-opened in 1873 ! but the traffic on it has been very trifling. 

 The annual expense of its maintenance was set down in 1878, at ;^ 1,200, 



