Paddling the Shannon

This is the report of a canoe holiday that took place during July and August 2000. The trip started near to Boyle on Lough Key and finished nine days later at the marina at Banagher, some 90 odd miles down the Boyle and Shannon rivers. The crew of the bright blue canadian canoe, affectionately called Dimples, were First Mate Eileen Lockwood and Skipper Roger Shrimpton. Dimples is 17 feet in length and carried the pair with all of their personal and camping gear for the holiday. A supply of drinking water and a couple of days of food were also squeezed into the central space between the paddlers.

Roger is an experienced all-round canoeist but for Eileen this was a first-time experience. The couple live in north London; both have a hectic and demanding lifestyle, so they wanted a holiday away from it all but with a difference. The amount of training time before the holiday was limited due to other commitments, so this was going to be an interesting and different holiday for both partners. Would they manage to survive this energetic holiday and still be talking to each other at the end? Read on for their report.

We travelled by car from London to arrive at Boyle late afternoon. This was the first time for both of us to see Ireland other than visits to Dublin and Belfast, so we were delighted by the natural beauty of the countryside as we travelled to our first campsite at Lough Key. Our impression of this lough was "stunning" as we arrived in the evening sunshine. Lough Key must be one of the most attractive stretches of water around, and yet was so quiet and peaceful.

Back to reality after viewing the lough: the warden of the campsite warned us that the tap water was not safe to drink and needed to be boiled. This was a surprise: we have camped in many more remote places and the water has been fit to drink. The reason for this affair, explained the warden, was an erratic supply due to a water shortage! This came as a bit of a surprise because Ireland is not renowned for its droughts - or has global warming arrived in Ireland? However, the water tasted over-chlorinated so the boiling was to get rid of the chlorine rather than any bugs!

The campsite is located next to the lough and provided an easy start to the holiday. Despite the large size of the campsite, we were struck by how few people were camping, despite it being July and the weather warm and sunny. Not that we were complaining, mind! This peace and quiet was to be a feature of our holiday, which made Ireland so special compared with other places that we have visited.

Under way
On our first day paddling, we left the site with a warm and gentle breeze pushing us up the lough. Little did we realise that this was going to be the only time we had wind assistance for the next nine days! At the top of the lough we turned south and yes, straight into a gentle but persistent head wind. Oh dear, this was going to be with us for most of the time we were paddling.

And then the convoys of holiday cruisers started to pass by in greater numbers, providing a background of throbbing diesel engine noise as they chugged past. However, away from the navigation channel or between the convoys of craft, the peace and solitude returned and was wonderful. Convoys of craft? Yes, surprisingly a lot of people seem to enjoy following the boat in front, their view obstructed whilst inhaling exhaust fumes and all. This herding instinct must be conditioning that comes from too much city life. Not for us though: we were determined to avoid boats as much as possible and to enjoy the waterway au naturelle.

Formal camp sites on the way down proved to be few and far between. Several of our "wild" camping stops were flat grassy areas suitable for overnight camping. This initially proved a little disturbing for us townies, there being no noise or people around. But gradually the peace and solitude proved to be the real tonic. We even shared an island with a herd of goats on one occasion!

The weather also proved to be unseasonably warm with few light showers, and plenty of bright weather with sunny periods. This was great weather to paddle and to explore loughs and creeks on the way down. The natural beauty of the waterway is best experienced from a boat that travels at 2 mph, is silent, and has the crew sitting at water level. Birds and wildfowl, fish, water insects, bankside and water flowers: we were mesmerised by the extent of this visual feast of wildlife slowly passing by. However, the few formal campsites we stopped at were a welcome sight as we looked forward to a hot shower and a proper toilet - and an opportunity to replenish our fresh food.

I must mention the reeds, which are just about everywhere on the waterway. What appeared at the start of the holiday as a mass of green shoots gradually became identifiable for the varieties and types, each having its own habitat and distinctive rustling sound as the wind blows across them. A simple point to mention, but the reeds became a familiar and interesting feature of the holiday, hiding a variety of water fowl, ducks and swans that peeked out at us as we paddled by.

On a light note, we enjoyed the friendliness of many cruiser crews, and we set ourselves the challenge of finding the only vertical navigation marker post on the river. We did find it, and took a photo to prove that it does exist!

Rindoon
We also found Rindoon. No article can be written about the Shannon without a mention of this wonderful place, which we stumbled across entirely by accident. Whilst paddling along we noticed a ruined tower nearly hidden by trees, so we decided to explore. As we approached, the trees slowly opened up to expose a massive stone-walled building and complex next to the lough, which was only just accessible to us through the shallow water.

We moored up, and walked into the deserted main structure and were amazed by the size and complexity of this mysterious place. The walled structure opens up inside into what is described as a fortified town, which sadly is slowly crumbling away. Upon later inquiry, we were amazed to find that this monument is an important medieval structure without any official protection. This is a piece of Irish history disintegrating whilst waiting to be properly protected. But the authorities has better hurry before the place collapses any more.

We figured that the name Rindoon must be the Celtic equivalent of "Run Down", because that is clearly what it is. Such a shame to see it without protection of any kind, but we have some great photos to remind us of our unexpected excursion to this fine monument.

Journey's end
Well, we finally arrived at Banagher after nine days of paddling, safely - and, yes, we were still talking to each other. The head wind finally curtailed our intended finish point of Portumna: the breeze was clearly getting stronger and was making paddling difficult. Perhaps we should have started our trip at Portumna and paddled north up to Lough Key?

Any other reflections since we got back to London? Yes, several actually. Despite the remoteness and beauty of much of the waterway, we were disturbed to find fishing debris in many places. Discarded fish hooks, floats and line together with drinks cans and food wrappers at what were obvious fishing spots. Why do some people not take more care of this wonderful environment? We always managed to collect and take more rubbish away than we actually created, which is a tip others should consider.

The speed of some cruisers also caused us concern. Not just the nuisance and sometimes danger created by the wash of some of the passing cruisers, but clear evidence of bank erosion damage caused by the vigour of the water washing the soft clay and soil of the river banks. I understand that the English Fens have suffered similar erosion created by too many cruisers, and I would hate to think of the lovely Shannon being seriously damaged in the same way. Perhaps clearer guidance and markers for speed restriction are needed? The narrower sections of the waterway appeared to be the worst affected.

Roll of honour
Finally, we cannot complete our article without mentioning the many people that provided help and guidance during our holiday. We were particularly struck by the natural and instinctive generosity of local people, some of whom we briefly list in our roll of honour below:

The manager of the marina at Carrick on Shannon for allowing us to camp on a patch of grass within the marina overnight (the showers were very welcome).

The owner of Crossby's pub at Tarmonbarry for allowing us to camp in his field behind the pub (yes, that was a good night's sleep).

The manager at Galey Bay campsite for buying groceries for us when he popped out to the local shops (and above the call of duty).

Paddy, the campsite warden at Hodson Bay, for his exceptional friendliness, the loan of his bike to get to the shop, and providing historical information about Rindoon and local water conditions (a real gentleman).

The staff of Carrick Craft, Banagher, for looking after our gear and canoe whilst we retrieved our car (nice people at this marina).

And finally, especial thanks to Brian Goggin of the IWAI for his patience and an amazing amount of planning information and support before the start of the holiday.

Raspberry
Oh yes, and finally a big raspberry to the driver (can't really call him anything else) of the cruiser ***** ***** for thoughtlessness and excessive speed that produced an enormous stern wave that managed to swamp our boat at Shannon Bridge. Will all of those at the helm please note, and will all hire companies please inform their customers, that a canoeist paddling a craft with a freeboard of less than six inches does not appreciate a wave higher than six inches! When passing a small boat like ours, will all cruisers please slow down: my frantic signals to the speedsters were sometimes misinterpreted as the cheery wave of a passing fellow boater!