Grand & Royal Canals
Grand Canal
The Grand Canal and Royal Canal are parallel waterways from Dublin to the Shannon. The Grand Canal was completed in 1811 and the Royal Canal in 1817.
The Grand Canal Company was established in 1772 to ensure the future of the canal which by then had only been completed as to a relatively short stretch. A circular line to Dublin from Portobello to Ringsend was completed in the late 1790s with docks adjacent to the River Liffey.
At the same time, the project to take the canal across the Bog of Allan  was recommenced. The continuation to this Island was finally completed in 1803. The canal as now stands runs from Grand Canal Dock to River Shannon with a link to the River Barrow. The main line length is 131 kilometres.
Both the Grand Canal and Royal Canal, even at their peak carried not more than 100,000 tons of freight a year.  The Grand Canal attracted a reasonable volume of goods in the 1840s, both passenger and freight.
Royal Canal
The statutory authority for the Royal Canal was granted by the Irish Parliament in 1757.  Works on the canal commenced in 1790. The Royal Canal Company went bankrupt in 1812.
A new company with government aid extended the Royal Canal to the Shannon. and it finally reached the river Shannon in 1817. The Royal Canal was built for freight and passenger transport from the River Liffey to Longford.
The Royal Canal was less successful than the Grand Canal. The Royal Canal had links to the Barrow River ,In 1845 the canal was sold to the Midland Great Western Railway.
In the 19th century the Royal Canal docks were situated at Broadstone on the North Circular Road. The aqueduct and canal that linked the docks to the Royal Canal are gone and replaced by the Broadstone Railway and now bus garage.
Passenger Services
Through the beginning of the 19th century a transport service developed with canal boats moving across at a relatively leisurely pace.Barges were drawn by horse on the inland canal.
Barges could make coastal voyages to Dublin in summer. At later times, cargoes were transhipped at Newry from barges or lighters operating on the canal.
Hotels were built for passengers at a number of points on the Grand Canal including Portobello, Sallins, Robertstown, Tullamore and Shannon. The journey from Dublin to Shannon harbour took 18 hours in the early part of the 20th century.
The Royal Canal had four passenger boats in regular service from Dublin to Mullingar, 53 miles. This took thirteen and a half hours. Canal boats included facilities for serving meals and could cater for up to 60 to 70 passengers.
From the early to middle of the 19th century, competition from mail and stage coaches offered a significantly faster service. They also complemented passenger canal services with links to the termini.
In the pre-railway period, canal travel was more comfortable and less tiring than road travel. By 1850 the railways had arrived and canal passenger traffic was effectively dead.
Famine Era Works
Extensive navigation works were undertaken on the canal during the famine. However, the era of railways had greatly reduced the attraction of waterways for passenger transport.
In the 1840s a major scheme with navigation and drainage improvement along the Shannon was carried out under the commissioners for the improvement of the River Shannon.
Extensive navigation works were undertaken on the Royal Canal during the famine. However, the era of railways had greatly reduced the attraction of waterways for passenger transport.
In the 1850s, the Board of Public Works made the Upper and Lower Bann navigable between Portadown and Coleraine at the same time the further link was created from the Ulster Canal Southwest across County Leitrim to the headwaters of the Shannon through Ballinamore and Ballyconnell.
Railways
In the pre-railway period, canal travel was more comfortable and less tiring than road travel. By 1850 the railways had arrived and canal passenger traffic was effectively dead.
The Mullingar Dublin railway line was constructed along the Royal Canal for much of its distance. The canal was purchased by the Midland Great Western Railway. The company had intended to close the canal and use the land as a bed.
The canal fell into disrepair in the 1970s and came close to being closed up., the full length to the River Shannon was reopened in 2010 having fallen into disrepair since the middle of the 20th century.