Poulnasherry reclamation

[pwaldron]

Given the interest in the Cammoge ferry disaster thread at http://www.ourlibrary.ca/phpbb2/viewtop ... f=1&t=3927 members of the forum might like some more local history from that little corner of Clare - Poulnasherry Bay, at the mouth of which the 1849 tragedy occurred.

Over at http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?s ... 7907517330 I posted a link to the admirable Brian J Goggin's account of the proposed Doonbeg Ship Canal, which would have linked Poulnasherry Bay to the Atlantic Coast: http://irishwaterwayshistory.com/abando ... hip-canal/

Miriam Scahill asked for "any details on the proposal to build a 'dam' at mouth of Poulnasherry Bay" so I did a little research; a lot more remains to be done. The local folklore is that when the West Clare Railway was under construction, embankments were begun along the traditional ferry route from Cammoge in the west and from Carrowncalla in the east (see map at http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,495475,655840,5,7 ), but that they passed like ships in the night and never met, so that the railway was rerouted around the bay by Moyasta (where a small section has been reconstructed for the benefit of tourists in recent years thanks to the efforts of Jackie Whelan)

The proposed Poulnasherry Reclamation occupied the House of Commons in London for much of the late 19th century and early 20th century, resulting in:

- the Kilrush and Kilkee Railway and Poulnasherry Reclamation Act 1860 (23 & 24 Vict.) c. clv

- the Kilrush and Kilkee Railway and Poulnasherry Reclamation Amendment Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict.) c. xxix

- the Kilrush and Kilkee Railway and Poulnasherry Reclamation Act 1872 (35 & 36 Vict.) c. xc

- the Poulnasherry Reclamation Act 1884 (47 & 48 Vict.) c. ccxliii

- a parliamentary question on 26 Oct 1916 - see http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/comm ... 26_HOC_355

As recently as 2005, two Irish academics discussed land reclamation in the Shannon estuary, but concentrating on efforts in the area of the Fergus estuary further east; see http://www.ucd.ie/gsi/pdf/38-1/clare.pdf

In Poulnasherry Bay, all came to nought, and the area is still known locally as `The Slob'. It would be interesting to know how much work was actually carried out arising from the above-mentioned Acts.

A few miles further west, at Carrigaholt, where the Moyarta River enters the estuary, there is a large corcass on both sides of the river which has also been the subject of a battle between man and nature over the centuries. In a frame in front of me is an old photograph (probably by Lawrence) showing trams of hay in the field where this corcass is today. Within living memory, however, this corcass has always been completely inundated at spring tides.

[bjg]

Paddy Waldron suggested that I might comment on this.

I think that there were at least six different railway proposals for Kilrush/Kilkee. For the first three of those mentioned below, I rely on Ignatius Murphy's Before the Famine struck.

===Proposal 1=====

In 1840, as we have seen, the car drivers shoved up their prices. However, they may have been trying to make as much as they could before being put out of business, because in May 1840 it was reported that Mr Williams of the City of Dublin Steam Company was contemplating the laying down of a railway between Kilrush and Kilkee. The expense was calculated at £400-£500 per mile so that a total of about £3,000 would be quite sufficient.

===Proposal 2=====

But a change of mind soon took place. Steam would be too expensive. Instead, a tramway would be laid down [...].

===Proposal 3=====
This was the first proposal tied in with reclamation, and it was made in 1845; Murphy says that in October the Limerick Reporter announced the

Kilrush, Klkee, Dublin and Belfast Junction Railway with power to extend the line as far as Ennistymon.

===Proposal 4=====
This may be what Miriam Scahill is thinking of. I turn to Eddie Lenihan's In the tracks of the West Clare Railway. He says that the first proposal to reach the construction stage was that started in 1858; the works were destroyed in the winter of 1868-9 (see below) but meetings and proposals continued for many years afterwards. I seem to remember (Lenihan doesn't comment) that it was for a standard (Irish 5' 3") gauge railway, not a narrow gauge.

If you go to the OSI map for ~1900 (Historic 25"), a little north of Cammoge, you can see where the line was built: http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,494710,657025,6,9. I've positioned the cursor about mid-way across the bay. Eddie Lenihan says that the western end started at Lisdeen, was interrupted but resumed in Termon West, then went through Termon East, Leaheen and Kilnagalliagh. You can see the line of the embankment across the bay: it was to have a bridge to allow turf-boats through. Then, on the east side, it continued to Ilaunalea, which Lenihan says was to be a junction equivalent to Moyasta, and Carrownacalla South.

Eddie Lenihan says:

[...] the embankment across the bay was almost completed by the winter of 1868–9 and the two sides had even been linked by a boardwalk. But though it was advised that no more should be done until the bank had solidified and the winter passed, this was not heeded, the various gaps were closed and a violent storm later that winter destroyed much of the earthworks, bringing the whole scheme to a halt not just for the time being, but for nearly twenty years.

===Proposal 5=====
The South and West Clare Railways as actually built. Railway and reclamation schemes were separated by then.

===Proposal 6=====
I suppose Proposal 6 would be Jackie Whelan's restoration ....

bjg
http://irishwaterwayshistory.com

[miriam scahill]

That is wonderful info !! Was there any suggestions re a dam in - say 1930's or 40's ?? I remember my late Dad saying something about it.

[bjg]

I'm afraid that I have no sources of information about twentieth-century developments. bjg

[pwaldron]

Brian

Which edition of Lenihan do you have? I have the 1990 first edition which seems quite different from the 2008 edition at http://books.google.ie/books?id=Sm8TTHRwSCMC which refers also to a 1999 revised edition!

Paddy

[bjg]

Mine's 1990, Mercier Press. bjg

[pwaldron]

I just stumbled across this in the Waldron archives:

The Old Place ... Kilkee in 1842 by Malachy Hynes
Irish Independent
Thursday 27 Jan 1955

Hynes quotes this extract from Mason's Parochial Survey, 1814-19:

Kilkea House, the former residence of the Macdonel family, is pleasantly situated near a stupendous cliff, a small bay, and a white strand, on the shore of the Atlantic. It has been for some years in a state of decay. Its last occupier of the Macdonel family, was the great grandmother of the present proprietor; she died at a very advanced age, in the year 1788. This lady, who was descended from the ancient house of O’Brien of Ennistymond, kept up the old Irish practice of indiscriminate and unbounded hospitality for many years. She ascribed her health, spirits, and longevity to the efficacy of a very fine spring well on her garden, from which she drank a large glass of water at an early hour every morning. At this place, as well as at Ballykett and Querin, are the almost imperceptible ruins of castles, the materials of which have probably been used in erecting the houses. Kilkea Castle is marked on an ancient map of the Irish Coast.

Opposite to Kilkea House, is Atlantic Lodge, the pleasant summer residence of George Studdert, of Clonderlaw, Esq. who has erected several other houses round the White Strand.

Querin is the residence of Lieutenant William Borough, of the Royal Navy. This house is in itself a very great curiosity, having been built after the old Dutch fashion, with two stories in its long projecting roof. It is credibly reported, that every article of the materials of this house, timber, bricks, shingles, windows, &c. were brought here from Holland in one vessel, by Mr. Vanhoogort, the ancestor of Mr. Borough, who obtained a lease for ever of the estate of Querin, from one of the Earls of Thomond.

Hynes continues:

This was the first account I had of any Dutchman in Kilkee. If he had his way, it is quite possible that very many Clare peninsular folks would now have Dutch, not ancient Corcabaskin names. With the aid of a Dutch company he projected the reclamation of the Poulnasherry slobland between Kilkee and Kilrush. The project fizzled then; but it has been sizzling again in recent times, though no one has so far given Kilkee's Dutchman credit for starting it.

He quotes no source for this concluding paragraph.

There are various conflicting versions of the Vanhoogort family history, but one estimates that the birth of Mr. Vanhoogort's widow's daughter by her second husband took place as early as 1708.

If this is all true, the story of the Poulnasherry reclamation goes back perhaps a century and a half earlier than we previously thought.

[pwaldron]

Irish Times 12 May 1952 (courtesy of Senan Scanlan):

£75,000 plan to reclaim 650 acres under Shannon:
-- of land between Kilkee and Kilrush is being pressed forward by a local committee. The
man behind the project is Mr. T. Lillis of Blackweir, Co. Clare a local representative on the County
Council. ---- Their object is to have what is known as Poulnasherry Bay reclaimed.