Area's of Carlow town and Graiguecullen approved for flood relief

SpitfireIV

Got this letter to the house today from Mary White of the Greens stating that John Gormley has approved the necessary funding to allow the council to carry out a surface water drainage scheme to the sum of €19.4m :eek:

This is all down to the 'horrific flooding of last August' and in the hope that 'Carlow does not make the headlines for all the wrong reasons'. I dont know, I think I've talked about the floods of last August here already but I think it was one of the most over dramatised things I'd ever seen. Ok, a lot of peoples properties were damaged (by no fault of there own but by developers whom a. are not from the town and are not aware of where flooding takes place and when, or more to the point b. developers whom were fully aware of the risks and came up against no opposition from those in higher places in the local authorities). I've lived in Graigue all my 25 years and have seen many many worse floods then the great catastrophic, end of civilisation floods of August 2008 (of which I'm no doubth sure we'll all recall to our grandchildren and mightily bore they be!! :pac:). Its the geography of the area, its nature, its not a recent phenomenon as I seem to believe many think it is.

The letter states that the work to be carried out will include:

1. The updating of the old foul and surface water drains.
2. The infrastructure and the construction of flood defence walls

and, curiousy.....

3. A roadway above the maximum flood levels of the river

"It will take a huge amount of stress from people living in the Centaur Street, Pembroke and areas of Graiguecullen"

A defence wall? Where, how long, how high? Are we taking a 'Berlin wall' here? How exactly do you construct a wall to prevent flooding without it coming out somewhere else, or pushing the problem somewhere further down the line? And this roadway above the maximum flood height I really dont understand?!


Now its time for me to pimp my vid-jo of last Augusts floods!

Anyway, discuss.....

Morf

I'll be interested to see what happens. My father still revels in telling us about White '47 and the worst floods Graigue ever had. It was still only half way up '98 street i think.

foggy_lad

my parents used to talk about the yearly floods down that end of town and how it was penance for those unfortunate enough to live in graigue:) and how they remembered weeks on end of walking on "the boards".

people did not have carpets etc downstairs where the floodwater could reach back then and were more accepting of nature and of having floods on a yearly basis. it is the same on many offshore islands where wind and driving rain can force floods of water under even the most secure of doors so people have simple stone or sealed concrete floors.

speaking of planning where was the green party when permission was given for all those apartments in a flood-zone?

ikeano16

this has been promised for years , the original croppy boy was probably still alive at the time , at least in the mean time we have got rid of the brits , now its well past the time we got rid of the flood problems in lower carlow town , and Graiguecullen , land of the Croppies , our proud ancestors .

shenanigans1982

CroppyBoy1798 wrote: »

I dont know, I think I've talked about the floods of last August here already but I think it was one of the most over dramatised things I'd ever seen.

You didn't half dramatise them with that music did you?:D...only joking another top video....Not much of an expert when it comes to floods but in my opinion when someone gets pulled out their door in a boat it's a bad flood.

legendal

One of the funniest things about the floods was John Gormley standing in his wellies promising to clamp down on developments in places like The Quay that are liable to flooding... oblivious to the fact that the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment was earmarked for the car park to his left. A Government we can believe in! :pac:

Anyhoo, I was down there yesterday and there's work going on there alright. Hope they don't increase the size of the wall though, it'd wreck the view from that neck of the woods (and from the Grill & Grape, of course). Photo attached.

Super-Rush

Like i posted on another thread a while back the proposed wall is to be 10 feet high

SpitfireIV

shenanigans1982 wrote: »

You didn't half dramatise them with that music did you?:D...only joking another top video.....

Vivaldi's 'Summer', I thought it was fairly appropriate

super-rush wrote: »

Like i posted on another thread a while back the proposed wall is to be 10 feet high

10 foot high is crazy! Right, so, say for instance they build a 10foot high wall along the 'town' side (some might call it the 'Carlow' side :pac:) of the river Barrow. Will they do the same on the opposite side? On the new town park? Or just prevent the water from spilling into the town and let it into Graigue? :P I'm seriously struggling to see how this wall is going to work!

SpitfireIV

ikeano16 wrote: »

this has been promised for years , the original croppy boy was probably still alive at the time , at least in the mean time we have got rid of the brits , now its well past the time we got rid of the flood problems in lower carlow town , and Graiguecullen , land of the Croppies , our proud ancestors .

Just a short history lesson , but when the 'original' Croppy Boy was about parts of Graigue where the park is now were swampy, marshy ground. In fact I can remember an area of the park that you couldnt go into as it was too swampy and another big open drain to the left just after coming in the main gate, that thing was dangerous! You'd often have heard the park referred to as 'Begleys Bog', and still do sometimes by the older generations.

Where Carlow Castle stands now, surrounded by land was not always that always that way! The Castle sat on its own little island surrounded by the Barrow on one side, the Burrin on the other and marshy swamp lands to the other two sides. Hence the name 'Ceatharlach' town on the lake, or 'Catharlach', the 'stone on the lake' (stone meaning the castle) depending on whom you talk to or your source. Natural defences were crucial in defence and saving time, William Marshall used the geography of the area to his advantage. Ever notice the hill when making your way up Castle 'hill' to Tullow street, there is a gradual rise where you are coming out of what would have been the low lying swampland onto the drier, surrounding land.


And as for Graiguecullen being the land of croppies, or proud ancestors, well........thats for another day

ikeano16

very quick history question are you telling me that the croppies buried in the croppy graves in graiguecullen are not our proud ancestors who massacred by the brits whatever bout being your ancestors they certainly mine secondly why did you evade this by saying that it was a matter for another day i know all bout history of carlow castle begleys bog etc etc i did not come down in the last shower you know or even in the very heavy ones of last august !!

SpitfireIV

ikeano16 wrote: »

very quick history question are you telling me that the croppies buried in the croppy graves in graiguecullen are not our proud ancestors who massacred by the brits

If they were massacared by anyone it was not the 'Brits' it was by there fellow Irishmen (whom, although may have been loyal to the crown were still Irishmen none the less) for the most part I'm afraid, to name a few of those stationed in town at the time included the 'Armagh militia', 'North Cork Militia' and the 9th Dragoons under the command of an Irishman, Col Mahon, of the Mahons of Strokestown house Co. Roscommon. I'm a little rusty on the topic but I believe there was only one actual mainland UK regiment stationed in town at the time, the 'Durham Fencibles'.

A large number of those buried in Graigue I believe are not our 'proud' ancestors but a large amount of civilians and innocent parties caught up in the middle of the conflict unfortunately. There was no glorious struggle or epic battle in Carlow town, but a sad, unfortunate, terrible event in which a lot of young men as well as dwellers of the town died in absolute vain (having in some part being betrayed and informed upon by there fellow Irishmen!).

whatever bout being your ancestors they certainly mine secondly why did you evade this by saying that it was a matter for another day....

I see your only new to boards, one of the rules around these parts is that the thread has to stay on topic or it may be locked. If you want to start a thread on 1798 then please do so, I'd be more than happy to discuss it with you in a clear and frank manner without the threat of going off topic.

Morf

I heard a rumour from a Rowing Club member that when the works on the river take place that the club will take some land where the tree and flower beds are and build a longer slip.

This was 4 or 5 years ago though.

SpitfireIV

ikeano16 wrote: »

Post removed by ShayK1

For a moment there I thought you might have been seriously interested in the history of the period, what a pity :rolleyes:. Perhaps some day when you get a little older and look at history with a more unbiased, open mind you'll be able to seperate fact from fiction and see the events for what they really were.

patrickc

ikeano16

your only new so I won't ban you this time but refer to the forum charter http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055183314 and stop bloody trolling....

Patrickc

Moderator

Super-Rush

CroppyBoy1798 wrote: »

Vivaldi's 'Summer', I thought it was fairly appropriate



10 foot high is crazy! Right, so, say for instance they build a 10foot high wall along the 'town' side (some might call it the 'Carlow' side :pac:) of the river Barrow. Will they do the same on the opposite side? On the new town park? Or just prevent the water from spilling into the town and let it into Graigue? :P I'm seriously struggling to see how this wall is going to work!

You won't get any arguments from me on that one. Its madness.