archaeological & built heritage assessment - The Heritage Council

February 1821. It was almost 6.5kms long, commencing with a lock below Battlebridge which led into a
small harbour. Both this lock and a second lock at Drumleague about 1.5kms up the canal were for some
reason made 3m shorter than the Royal Canal locks, which meant that boats from the Royal Canal could
not pass through (ibid.). From Drumleague the canal, which was very narrow, twisted its way to Acres
lake and upwards to enter Lough Allen in a small bay at the extreme southern end, some distance from
the place where the river leaves the lake.
The expected trade in coal did not materialise and only an occasional boat passed through the canal. The
cost of shipping coal was high and coal continued to be imported through Dublin. As such, the Shannon
Commissioners showed a limited interest in the Lough Allen canal when the plans to improve the
navigation in the 1830s were being drawn up. They did recommend a number of improvements: replacing
the old roadbridge at Battlebridge with a new bridge to be sited downstream of the entrance to the canal;
lengthening the locks to accommodate boats from the Royal Canal and making a second lock just beyond
the harbour to increase the depth of the canal and deepening and widening the canal for its entire length
(ibid.). In addition they suggested widening Tarrant’s old cut and constructing a weir at Bellantra to hold
Lough Allen at a fixed level. The only work carried out was some underpinning of the locks to allow the
canal to take deeper draft boats, and some dredging in the canal, while Tarrant’s cut was widened to
divert more of the Arigna waters directly into Lough Allen. It was not until further steps were taken to
control the Shannon waters following disastrous flooding in the 1860s that sluices were eventually fitted
at Bellantra, designed to raise the lake 1.5m above its normal summer level (ibid.).
The construction of the Cavan & Leitrim railway in the 1880s with a tramway extension to the Arigna
coalfields had further reduced the use of the canal. As such, when a hydro electric scheme for the
Shannon was being considered in the 1920s, it was decided to use Lough Allen as a storage reservoir by
constructing new regulating sluices at Bellantra. This meant closing off the canal permanently because of
the great fluctuations in the level of the lake. However, in recent years the navigable course of the canal
system, river and lough are accessible.
Cavan & Leitrim Railway was incorporated in 1883 under the Tramways Act of that year, under the title
of ‘Cavan & Leitrim & Roscommon Light Railway and Tramway Company Limited’. It opened its main line,
situated around the edge of the central plain of Ireland, bounded to the north by the Iron Mountain range,
with a highest peak, Cuilcagh, rising to 2,188ft (Casserley 1974). A branch to Arigna and its coalfields
opened in 1888, and 3.5 mile extension to the coal mines was constructed in 1920 under the title of
Arigna Valley Railway. A 3ft narrow gauge railway line, its route mileage (excluding the Arigna extension)
was 48.5 miles, with the principal places being served including Ballinamore, Belturbet, Arigna, Mohill and
Dromod (ibid.). Eventually the line closed in 1961.
Area 2
Area 2 has been defined as that from Drumshanbo to Cootehall, including Leitrim and Carrick-on-Shannon
(Drumleague lock, Battlebridge, Drumherriff bridge, Hartley bridge, Cootehall bridge, Leitrim bridge, Kilarcan lock,
Carrick-on-Shannon bridge).
As the Lough Allen canal navigation continues southwards from Acres Lake towards Battlebridge,
Drumleague lock is located along its course. Delaney (1987) notes that from the bridge at Battlebridge,
there is very little indication of a navigation course. The river is narrow and very shallow and the quay and
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