CANALS. 117 



• 



lateral cuts. The works were commenced in 1759, according to the designs 

 of Mr. Thomas Omer, who proposed to make them suitable for vessels of 70 

 tons at all seasons, the river in its then state not having- been navigable at 

 certain times of the year by vessels carrying more than 2 or 3 tons. Seven locks 

 and the cuts leading to and from them had been completed up to 1790 under 

 the immediate inspection of Mr. John Semple, as Deputy Engineer. In the 

 above-mentioned year, ;^22,500 having been previously spent under the Navi- 

 gation Board, the Company was incorporated, and Mr. William Chapman was 

 appointed to direct the works. The proposal made by the Company to Par- 

 liament, was to render the river navigable for boats of 15 tons in summer and 

 30 tons in winter, with towing-paths for the whole length, and to expend for 

 that purpose /?40,ooo of their own money, on receiving ;^2o,ooo from the 

 public purse ; but whatever success might have attended the first proposal 

 it was only partially proceeded with, for during the progress of the works the 

 Company were induced to enlarge their project for the purpose of enabling 

 boats from Youghal and Dungarvan to pass through the River Barrow and 

 Grand Canal to Dublin without transhipping, and also take in coal vessels 

 from British ports. With that view 24 new locks were designed, 80 feet long 

 and 16 feet wide, with 5 feet water on the cills to admit boats of 80 tons burden. 

 Of these, 10 were built, and 4 of the original locks, of various sizes and of 

 bad construction, were taken down and reconstructed on the modified plan. 

 However, on the withdrawal of the canal bounties on produce carried to 

 Dublin, the progress of the enlarged scheme was stopped, but only for a 

 time, no importance having been apparently attached to the fact that the 

 locks of the Grand Canal, which were not uniform in size, are in no instance 

 more than 70 feet in length, so that Dublin could not be reached by 80-ton 

 boats without transhipping. 



"After having expended on the several works ;^62,88i, including the grant of 

 ;^2o,ooo, the navigation being still incomplete on the enlarged scale proposed, 

 the Company applied for aid to the Directors-General who agreed to give 

 them ;^20,ooo on condition of their reducing the tolls, and to give a further 

 sum of ;^27,5oo, a moiety of ;^55,ooo, the estimated cost of completing the 

 navigation, with the necessary locks and lateral cuts, weirs, towing paths, 

 etc., on the enlarged scale before specified. Those several amounts, together 

 with a sum of ;^ 11,620, the half of which was likewise contributed by the 

 Directors-General, had been expended on the works up to February, 181 2, 

 when a survey was made of their then state, and an estimate of the cost of 

 completion prepared amounting to ;^66,ooo. 



" The outlay from 1803 to 181 2, including ;^78,89i granted by the Direc- 

 tors-General, was ;^i49,5oi ; if to this we add the sum of ;^23,5oo expended 

 by the Board of Navigation previous to the incorporation of the Company, 

 and the sum of ;^66,ooo the amount of the estimate to finish made in 181 2, 

 we shall get a total of ;^239,ooi, equal to ^•j,02(^ 8s. 9d. per mile, at a rate of 

 lockage in that distance of only 5 feet per mile, a considerable portion of 

 which would be absorbed in the declination sufficient to give impetus to the 

 discharge of the waters of the river and of its tributaries. 



" The profits in 181 2, according to the report submitted to Parliament were 

 ;^2,589 or ;^76 per mile per annum, not including interest on capital sub- 

 scribed by individuals, or on grants obtained from the Government ; but had 

 the peculiarly favourable lie of the country for a canal the whole way been 

 taken advantage of, the proprietors could not have failed to obtain a far 

 different result, as well by the economy of construction and maintenance as 

 by the general improvement of the surrounding districts, seeing that the 

 Barrow Navigation passes through a country of great natural fertility, and 

 high cultivation ; that it meets at its outfall the rivers Nore and Suir by which 

 it communicates with the ports of New Ross and Waterford, and that the 



