Anyone interested in a heritage barge.

fergal.b

Waterways Ireland have invited tenders for the purchase of surplus barges and there are some nice old girls that would love to be brought back to their former glory. For more info and photos http://heritageboatassociation.ie/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=583&Itemid=35




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oceanman

gosh fergal you would need to be a brave person to take on some of those!

fergal.b

They can be a lot of work alright but most of the steel an these is so thick that a bit of surface rust is nothing although they are just empty shells thats the way you would buy most barges The guy in the link " Joe Treacy" bought his one 4E back in the 80's






And now she looks like this. There is a great story about her here http://www.iwai.ie/forum/read.php?1,33678,page=1







The guy's on the Heritage boat Association are also a great help to anyone wishing to restore one and can help with the history of each boat, with these you will not just own a barge but a piece of waterways heritage, worth the effort I think it would be a shame to see them go for scrap.







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pedroeibar1

At least if you buy the Tullamore one (79M) it would come with its own supply of kindling for your stove, there are trees growing on it! Brave people to tackle those, I've done wrecked old houses and one old boat, but I'm not brave enough now!

neris

I would assume that should you have the fortune/misfortune to buy one of the sunken ones it would be up to yourself to get them floating again and by that stage the waterways ppl will have no interest in helping you refloat your barge

On a seperate note: how did they let the boats get into such bad states of repair, surely they should have been sold or at least scrapped years ago rather then rotting and rusting away

fergal.b

I'm not sure what way it works as to the liftout or refloat, some have been lifted already



As to why they have been left for so long your guess is as good as mine

The 31M I hear was a fas project and was re-plated by them then abandoned.

tin79

I think I am going to have to pass on this one Fergal.

fergal.b

They are a bit like building a house and most people that do take them on tend to end living on them so in the long term they can pay off. If I was living another life I would give it a go, it would be nice to be living on one of these big barges with a boatbuilding workshop built in

The desire to build a house is the tired wish of a man content
thenceforward with a single anchorage.
The desire to build a boat is the desire of youth,
unwilling yet to accept the idea of a final resting place.
- Arthur Ransome






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pedroeibar1

Last year there was a thread over in History and Heritage on heritage boats here. Tabnabs was a promoter of the ‘Heritage’ people Fergal referenced above and put an oar in at post 11, at which time I disagreed. Subsequent events have reinforced my view that those 'Heritage' people do not merit the name they claim; even the barge (31M) worked on by FAS was disgracefully abandoned.

Fergal on his own with 'the boat with the perm’ - the Microplas - not to mention his replica rebuilds has done more to keep an interest in boating heritage alive. (And to steal a bit of gaelgoiri from the anoraks' website - maith an fear!)

nulabert

Well, did anyone get a barge is the Great Barge sale? I see the Fox in Rooskey was withdrawn from the sale

fergal.b

I hear FOX may now be in the hands of Scouting Ireland, If anyone can raise a few bob to do the job these young guy's can probably do a better job than FAS.





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nulabert

fergal.b wrote: »

I hear FOX may now be in the hands of Scouting Ireland, If anyone can raise a few bob to do the job these young guy's can probably do a better job than FAS..

I went on the Fox for a look during the Tender period. Its a fine barge. It probably needs an engine and a fair amount of work to make anything of it.

fergal.b

nulabert wrote: »

I went on the Fox for a look during the Tender period. Its a fine barge. It probably needs an engine and a fair amount of work to make anything of it.

It would make a cool scout den and sure if they had to move it 20 scouts would make about 2 HP



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nulabert

Its 5 working days tomorrow since the close of the tenders so I figure the Tender Assessment and recommendations to contact successful Tenders should be out tomorrow or early next week at the latest.

floatingscout

Yep, One of Scouting Ireland's Troops in Ballyleague/Lanesboro will be taking over the 113B - the Fox for use by Scouts, They intend to do it up and use it as an Ambassadorial Barge for Scouts from the whole Island of Ireland to promote Scouting and the Heritage of our Inland Waterways. With the reopening of the Royal Canal, approximately 3 miles north of their base in Lanesboro, it will give them an ideal gateway to complete the "Ould Triangle". The Shannon Erne System will also be on their hit list as far as I can make out.

It was great to see the 113B being saved from the "Scrapper" as with the tendering system this barge could have ended up in Hammond Lane, and would have heralded the end of a direct link with Waterways Heritage.

This Barge started out as the 113B and was launched in 1937, with Hughes and Co from Athy being its first owners. It was later sold on to the OPW who converted it into a Maintenance Barge, and has worked the upper Shannon for over 50 years. I think that this is the only Barge that has seen continuous use on the Inland Waterways since it was launched, but I could stand corrected on that.

Anyway I wish them all the luck and support that I believe they will get on this exciting project.

fergal.b

Best of luck with her, if you can keep us posted on her rebuild and if we can help out in any way we will. I hope the new law's don't affect you too much I hear Effin Bridge could become the most expansive toll bridge per foot in the world





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DanielBurke77M

Just a heads up on this one lads, all the barges in question were bought by barge restoration enthusiatics, including myself, I'm the proud owner of 77.M, the one that was lifted into the car park!

Details and progress as to how the barges were all getting on last summer can be seen at the below link on the Heritage Boat Association website - I cant send the link as I am a new user!!


We recently did an interview and photoshoot with Cara, Aer Lingus's Inflight magazine so keep an eye out if you are travelling in the near future!

Most of the boats will be on display on the Lough Derg Boat Rally, starting this weekend on Lough Derg, and moving up to Athlone for next weekend, if anyone wants to call down and see the boats at any stage, feel free and I will give you a personal tour! Details can be found with a search for IWAI Lough Derg Rally 40 2015.


I also have my own blog, which I update with captains logs most weekends, even though I am a few months behind with backlog recently, with exam finals and work on the barge slowing me down! It can be found with a search for barge77m at wordpress.

Thanks for all the interest, and rest assured that these monumental vessels are in the best hands possible

Daniel Burke
Skipper, 77.M
barge77m"at"gmail