ballinamore ballyconnell canal

Built between 1845 and 1856 as a joint navigation/drainage project and also as a famine relief scheme during the Great famine of 1845-49. It joins the Shannon at Leitrim village to the Erne at Aghalane. The locks were built between 1850-52. At Ballinamore there was a quay popularly known as the 'basin' which was attached to the nearby markethouse which took the business of the canal. It took fourteen years to build the original canal at a cost of IR274,272. Restoration of this waterway started in 1991 and was completed and opened for navigation in 1994. It is now one of the most modern waterways in Europe (push button automatic locks) and weaves through an area rich in unspoilt natural beauty.