The Broharris Canal was a
canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...
situated in
County Londonderry,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, which existed briefly in the 1820s. A planned extension to Limavady was never built.
History
The Broharris canal was built in the 1820s, and ran for some southwards from Ballymacran Point on the southern shore of
Lough Foyle towards
Limavady. It served both as a navigation cut for boats, and as a drainage channel. The cost of construction was £4,500, and for a short time it was used to transport heavy goods, bulky foodstuffs and raw materials. It was also used to transport large quantities of
kelp
Kelps are large brown algae seaweeds that make up the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera. Despite its appearance, kelp is not a plant - it is a heterokont, a completely unrelated group of organisms.
Kelp grows in "underwa ...
and shellfish harvested from the banks of the coastline to the west of
Magilligan Point, which were exposed at low tide. Both products were used to fertilise the sandy soils on the flat countryside near the foot of
Benevenagh.
In 1827, the inhabitants of Limavady appealed for the building of a canal from Lough Foyle to the town. John Killaly was commissioned to produce a survey, and estimated the cost of construction at £12,000. Killaly was an engineer, working for the Directors General of Inland Navigation in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
. His plans were for a separate canal, rather than an extension of the original Broharris Canal, which would be long, with two locks each long by wide. One lock would be located where the canal joined Lough Foyle, and the other would be about from the terminus. Despite optimistic estimates of the volumes of traffic likely to use the waterway, plans for a horse-drawn tramway were proposed in 1832, and the canal plan was quietly dropped.
The Broharris Canal did not last for long, but there is no positive mention of its demise. The Irish Railway Commissioners produced a report on the inland waterways in 1838, in which the canal was not mentioned, although it was briefly noted in some government reports dating to the second half of the 19th century. A Royal Commission on the waterways also failed to mention it.
See also
*
Canals of Ireland
:''This article covers the whole of Ireland, that is, covering both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland''
Navigable canals
* Ardnacrusha Canal
* Grand Canal
* Jamestown Canal
* Lecarrow Canal
*Newry Ship Canal
*Royal Canal
* Shannon– ...
*
Canals of the United Kingdom
The canals of the United Kingdom are a major part of the network of inland waterways in the United Kingdom. They have a varied history, from use for irrigation and transport, through becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution, to today's ...
Bibliography
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References
External links
BBC Schools - CanalsIrelands Eye
Canals in Northern Ireland
Geography of County Londonderry
Transport in County Londonderry
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