Trek on the Shannon! Walkway from O’Brien’s Bridge to Errina Canal restored to former glory
BE IT sunrise, sunset, or any other time of the day, there are few places more beautiful then the banks of the River Shannon.
The mighty waterway, which rises in Cavan and flows in to the Atlantic Ocean, has hundreds of kilometres of trails along its route.
Now a committed group of volunteers in O’Brien’s Bridge have helped revive a historic two-kilometre stretch, linking the south-east Clare village to Errina Canal near Clonlara.
One-third of this committee, which brought the route – established in 1757 – back to life is Jack Byrnes.
Speaking of the trail, which passes his back gate, he said: “We call it the Errina Walk because it eventually takes you to the Errina canal and you have the Errina bridge up further. This year, we had to do something about it. It was in a disastrous state.”
“Basically what happened was in April this year, John Slattery and Noel Enright, two friends of mine in the village, got word from Clare County Council that there was money available for the upkeep of walks, to develop walks and apply. We held a meeting in John’s house, filled in the application form, before sending it off,” he said.
Fast-forward only three weeks, and the trio had €13,500 granted and a contractor on board to remove the vegetation to make the trail accessible again.
And the ribbon was cut to open the revived route last week, which contractor John Joe Fitzpatrick toiled away on during treacherous weather throughout October.
Taking up the story, Jack said: “He cleaned the route. He opened it all up with diggers and small bulldozers. Then he put a new surface down. It was a big job – he had to use dumpers, we had to bring the surfacing 1.5km bucket-by-bucket-by-bucket. I think we needed 200 buckets just to go along from start to finish.”
While the walk is open and operational, there is a further part of the committee’s work – the erection of signage providing a historical context.
“There were traditional signs on the walks,” Jack explained, “These were developed by a previous committee going back into the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. They had wonderful signage done which got vandalised. They would tell you what happened, what it was about, going back 150 years.”
Indeed, Jack says, the history of the route is “fascinating”.
“Up to 1757, the waterway would bring you from Dublin to O’Brien’s Bridge. In 1757, they decided they would join Limerick to Dublin. They cut inland to where this walk finishes, in towards Clonlara, back to Plassey and into Limerick. It was a major undertaking – they had no machines. It was all done by hand.”
Getting the Errina Walk back up and running shows what a committee can do when they really put their mind to something.
It’s far more accessible now, Jack added.
"Before this was done, you could only walk in single file. Now you can walk side-by-side. That is number one. Before, the surface itself was brutal. You could get killed! I got badly hurt a few times when I was out running myself,” he recalled, “Now it’s a comfortable route. Mothers can push pushchairs, and wheelchair users can use it too.”
One of the highlights of the trail occurs around a half-a-kilometre from O’Brien’s Bridge village centre, with a fairy garden which John has lovingly put together with family friend Mark Ryan, 10 over the space of four years.
Proudly pointing to the fairy garden which borders his back yard, Jack said: “It was all Mark’s idea. He made all these fairy houses. I gave him a hand and it took off from there. Bit-by-bit, we kept adding to it, and people came from all over. We have the fairy villa, the pixie hotel, and the fairy house.”
All are welcome to partake in the trail!