Athlone

Another hop across to Ireland shows us the River Shannon just below the bridge in Athlone. Out of shot to the left is a wide sweeping weir and Athlone Lock. A couple of miles north of Athlone is the southern end of the 15 mile long Lough Ree, through which the Shannon flows.

See Google Aerial View of this location. The image is only fuzzy and shows no close detail. However, the old lock cut that once bypassed Athlone can be clearly seen.

Belmont Double Lock

Belmont Double Lock on the Grand Canal in Ireland. The lock keeper awaits the approaching boat. Notice the practice often found in Ireland of entering the bottom chamber of a staircase with both chambers empty and the middle gates open.

The Grand Canal runs 82 miles from Dublin to the River Shannon with the Barrow Line linking it to the River Barrow. Five of the 43 locks on the Grand Canal are Double locks (two-rise staircase locks), along with two of the nine locks on the Barrow Line.