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Dublin Bay Boating News and Information

Displaying items by tag: Heritage Plan

#InlandWaters - Waterways Ireland is hosting its second annual Heritage Plan Open Day from noon to 7pm next Wednesday 13 December at its headquarters in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh.

Visitors can review all the actions of the Heritage Plan that were progressed in 2017, as well as meet staff from the various divisions within Waterways Ireland to chat face-to-face about potential projects, ideas and support the cross-border body can offer stakeholders in Ireland’s inland waterways.

Come and listen to oral histories, inspect archival material and discuss waterway place names. Sit down and review the wide variety of natural, built and cultural heritage reports commissioned throughout the year.

View the work undertaken by the recipients of the 2017 Heritage Grants Scheme. Staff will be on hand to advise on the 2018 Grants Scheme, too.

Talk to Waterways Ireland about potential projects you’d like progressed in 2018, partnerships you can offer or general queries about the Heritage Plan.

Waterways Ireland’s chief executive Dawn Livingstone will also be present on the day, with eight dedicated slots for one-to-one meetings available to reserve via Doodle.

Have your say in the ‘What Floats your Boat’ public feedback corner where you can leave a comment on what you like or where you think Waterways Ireland could improve our service to our stakeholders.

There will also be free boat trips (spaces allocated on a first come, first served basis) from the Waterways Ireland HQ moorings from 1-3pm.

Take one of two one-hour boat tours of Enniskillen and Devenish Island, or try your hand at a Menapii currach with Row the Erne, winners of the Living Waterways National Award (weather dependant).

Limited parking is available at the Waterways Ireland HQ, which is also accessible on foot from the town centre.

Published in Inland Waterways

#InlandWaters - Waterways Ireland has won the Guardian Award at the 2016 World Canals Conference for its Traditional Heritage Boat Survey of the Royal Canal, Grand Canal, Barrow Line Canal and Barrow Navigation.

Undertaken as part of the Waterways Ireland Heritage Plan launched earlier this year, the project was led by environment officer Cormac McCarthy, who attended the event in Scotland to receive the presentation.

The World Canals Conference took place Monday 19 to Thursday 22 September in Inverness, welcoming international waterway experts, business leaders and global professionals to join in celebrating and exploring innovation in sustainable tourism, regeneration, engineering and heritage management of our waterways and much more.

The Guardian Award is sponsored by Historic Environment Scotland and celebrates outstanding work to safeguard the heritage of the world's waterways.

In other inland waterways news, Two Cooks Restaurant & Wine Bar in Sallins, Co Kildare, on the banks of the Grand Canal, took the Taste of the Waterways Award for 2017 at the Georgina Campbell Awards.

The winning eatery – opened recently by Josef Zammit and Nicola Curran, a well known couple with a following among Kildare diners – is one of many featured in A Taste of the Waterways, the annual guide produced by Waterways Ireland in conjunction with Georgina Campbell.

Other waterfront winners at the latest ceremony include Viewmount House in Longford, along the Royal Canal, which was named Country House of the Year, and Country Choice in Neagh, Co Tipperary, a popular rest stop on for Shannon boaters, which won the award For Services to Irish Food & Hospitality.

Published in Inland Waterways

Dublin Bay

Dublin Bay on the east coast of Ireland stretches over seven kilometres, from Howth Head on its northern tip to Dalkey Island in the south. It's a place most Dubliners simply take for granted, and one of the capital's least visited places. But there's more going on out there than you'd imagine.

The biggest boating centre is at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on the Bay's south shore that is home to over 1,500 pleasure craft, four waterfront yacht clubs and Ireland's largest marina.

The bay is rather shallow with many sandbanks and rocky outcrops, and was notorious in the past for shipwrecks, especially when the wind was from the east. Until modern times, many ships and their passengers were lost along the treacherous coastline from Howth to Dun Laoghaire, less than a kilometre from shore.

The Bay is a C-shaped inlet of the Irish Sea and is about 10 kilometres wide along its north-south base, and 7 km in length to its apex at the centre of the city of Dublin; stretching from Howth Head in the north to Dalkey Point in the south. North Bull Island is situated in the northwest part of the bay, where one of two major inshore sandbanks lie, and features a 5 km long sandy beach, Dollymount Strand, fronting an internationally recognised wildfowl reserve. Many of the rivers of Dublin reach the Irish Sea at Dublin Bay: the River Liffey, with the River Dodder flow received less than 1 km inland, River Tolka, and various smaller rivers and streams.

Dublin Bay FAQs

There are approximately ten beaches and bathing spots around Dublin Bay: Dollymount Strand; Forty Foot Bathing Place; Half Moon bathing spot; Merrion Strand; Bull Wall; Sandycove Beach; Sandymount Strand; Seapoint; Shelley Banks; Sutton, Burrow Beach

There are slipways on the north side of Dublin Bay at Clontarf, Sutton and on the southside at Dun Laoghaire Harbour, and in Dalkey at Coliemore and Bulloch Harbours.

Dublin Bay is administered by a number of Government Departments, three local authorities and several statutory agencies. Dublin Port Company is in charge of navigation on the Bay.

Dublin Bay is approximately 70 sq kilometres or 7,000 hectares. The Bay is about 10 kilometres wide along its north-south base, and seven km in length east-west to its peak at the centre of the city of Dublin; stretching from Howth Head in the north to Dalkey Point in the south.

Dun Laoghaire Harbour on the southside of the Bay has an East and West Pier, each one kilometre long; this is one of the largest human-made harbours in the world. There also piers or walls at the entrance to the River Liffey at Dublin city known as the Great North and South Walls. Other harbours on the Bay include Bulloch Harbour and Coliemore Harbours both at Dalkey.

There are two marinas on Dublin Bay. Ireland's largest marina with over 800 berths is on the southern shore at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. The other is at Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club on the River Liffey close to Dublin City.

Car and passenger Ferries operate from Dublin Port to the UK, Isle of Man and France. A passenger ferry operates from Dun Laoghaire Harbour to Howth as well as providing tourist voyages around the bay.

Dublin Bay has two Islands. Bull Island at Clontarf and Dalkey Island on the southern shore of the Bay.

The River Liffey flows through Dublin city and into the Bay. Its tributaries include the River Dodder, the River Poddle and the River Camac.

Dollymount, Burrow and Seapoint beaches

Approximately 1,500 boats from small dinghies to motorboats to ocean-going yachts. The vast majority, over 1,000, are moored at Dun Laoghaire Harbour which is Ireland's boating capital.

In 1981, UNESCO recognised the importance of Dublin Bay by designating North Bull Island as a Biosphere because of its rare and internationally important habitats and species of wildlife. To support sustainable development, UNESCO’s concept of a Biosphere has evolved to include not just areas of ecological value but also the areas around them and the communities that live and work within these areas. There have since been additional international and national designations, covering much of Dublin Bay, to ensure the protection of its water quality and biodiversity. To fulfil these broader management aims for the ecosystem, the Biosphere was expanded in 2015. The Biosphere now covers Dublin Bay, reflecting its significant environmental, economic, cultural and tourism importance, and extends to over 300km² to include the bay, the shore and nearby residential areas.

On the Southside at Dun Laoghaire, there is the National Yacht Club, Royal St. George Yacht Club, Royal Irish Yacht Club and Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club as well as Dublin Bay Sailing Club. In the city centre, there is Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club. On the Northside of Dublin, there is Clontarf Yacht and Boat Club and Sutton Dinghy Club. While not on Dublin Bay, Howth Yacht Club is the major north Dublin Sailing centre.

© Afloat 2020