107B Online

107B was weighed in Killaloe on 21^st January 1930. She is believed to have been built in Ringsend a short time previous to this. This makes her at least 76 years old. She was operated by Michael Fennell who traded between Carlow and Dublin. She was subsequently owned by a Mr Power from Carrick on Suir who in turn sold her to Roadstone. She left the canal navigation on 7^th March 1955 for the river Suir to engage in the dredging of sand from the river Suir.

A second chance

By 1969 107B had disappeared from sight when an advertisement appeared in the Irish Press advertising two canal boats for sale. At this time Robertstown on the Grand Canal was experiencing a re birth led by local priest Father PJ Murphy. The annual Grand Canal Festa was a water based festival experiencing huge success at the time. Members of the local committee decided to purchase the boats with a view to running boat excursions on the canal. They discovered that the two boats identified as 107B & 52M were to be inspected on the Suir at Mooncoin.The 107B was afloat on the Suir and was purchased for £700 from Roadstone.The other boat was also purchased. In July 1969 a group from Robertstown assembled at Mooncoin to begin the process of recovering the two boats. The 52M was in very poor condition and presented a huge challenge to the men from Robertstown which they overcame using some novel innovations. Following this both boats were towed to St Mullins to have further repairs carried out. A BMC truck engine was purchased and with its original gearbox was installed into 107B. Following a couple of months hard work both boats were ready to start the long journey to Robertstown.The plan was for 107B to tow the other boat .This proved more difficult than anticipated and a tractor had to be used on some sections with the tractor being loaded onto 107B when not needed. The journey up the Barrow was very difficult. At times hay had to be used to seal the lock gates. It was also necessary at times to flush silt out of the locks to get the boats in. After passing Borris lock they encountered a large sandbank. In order to progress the men from Robertstown had to strip off and wearing old boiler suits dug a channel in the riverbed to get the boats through. Finally the journey to Robertstown was completed and in winter 1970 work began on 107B to convert her into a passenger carrying vessel. John Tyrell of Arklow designed a superstructure that would accommodate 60 to 70 people .the boat was completed and ready for launch in Summer 1971. In July 1971 Mrs Barbara Castle a member of the British Government launched the 107B re naming her the Emily.

For the following decade the Emily carried many dignitaries as well as hundreds of ordinary folk on trips. They were particularly busy during Festa time. However by 1980 the glory days had passed and Emily was never used again being severely damaged by fire. In 1987 ownership of the Emily (107B) passed to DERTO (Dublin Eastern Regional Tourist Organisation).

In 1992 ownership passed to MERTO(Midland and Eastern Regional Tourist Organisation)

Rescue and re birth

Having lain derelict since 1980 in the Lowtown Robertstown area the Emily was offered to a group of canal enthusiasts attached to Offaly Branch IWAI.Out of this was born the 107B project group. The condition of the handover of the Emily (107B) was that it would be restored and used to promote the grand canal throughout the inland navigations of Ireland. The group decided that the best way to do this was following restoration the boat would become an exhibition centre/museum and would attend festivals and rallies on the waterways promoting the grand canal in all its facets. It would also be made available to schools and educational groups as a facility to teach young people about the Grand canal.

The group took possession of the boat in November 2004. A representative of MERTO oversaw the handover at Lowtown and on an extremely cold November day the job of moving the boat to Tullamore commenced initially to assess the condition of the hull. A small cruiser was used to push the boat to Ticknevin where an outboard bracket was welded to the rudder. From there a 15Hp outboard took her to Tullamore where she remained for several months waiting for a slot in the dry dock. Following a very quick visit to the dry dock in Tullamore it was clear that there was a sizable project in hand. As the dock in Tullamore was booked for a considerable period the outboard was again fitted to the rudder and the boat pointed towards Shannon harbour where a booking had been made for the covered dry dock. Work commenced in late February 2006 with volunteers assembled from as far away as Antrim and Enniskillen. It became obvious after a few hour of removing rust & lime scale that the boat was in far worse condition than was previously thought. In view of the length of time it had laid semi sunk at Robertstown it was always likely to be in poor condition. After the initial shock had worn off the decision was taken that the bilges and the entire bow section would have to be renewed. This was a daunting prospect considering the group had no funding . However people within the group demonstrate great skill in begging, cajoling and using all their powers of persuasion to get help on board. Steel arrived from Northern Ireland along with welders who gave their services free. Volunteers from the group spent long days preparing for the steel to be put on the hull. Rust was removed and paint put on .There was much speculation among folk at Shannon harbour as to what was happening and how long it would take. The sound of angle grinders could be heard late in the dry dock on miserable March evenings. On Sunday the 2nd April 2006 the original boat number 107 B was painted onto the bow of the boat and she was again Canal boat 107B. Much work remains to be done . It was planned to take 107B to the IWAI/HBA rally at Ballycommon later in the year when an engine was fitted and subsequently at the Shannon Harbour Canal Boat Rally. However some small delays occured  and her first appearance on the water for 2006 was at the  boatmen’s reunion in Banagher, 2nd July 2006.

 

was weighed in Killaloe on 21^st January 1930. She is believed to have been built in Ringsend a short time previous to this. This makes her at least 76 years old. She was operated by Michael Fennell who traded between Carlow and Dublin. She was subsequently owned by a Mr Power from Carrick on Suir who in turn sold her to Roadstone. She left the canal navigation on 7^th March 1955 for the river Suir to engage in the dredging of sand from the river Suir.