Canal in Mayo county town was deemed a 'death trap'

By Tom Gillespie

A CANAL built after the Irish Famine of the 1840s and which was being deepened in September 1967 as part of a £4 million drainage scheme was described then as a ‘death trap’.

And an angry urban council in Castlebar called on the Board of Works to have the canal fenced or piped before a serious accident occurred.

The mile-long canal, constructed in 1848 to drain Saleen lake into Lough Lannagh, was being excavated to a depth of 30 feet to drain water-logged farms in the area.

But anxious parents said that in its then unfenced condition it could cost a life.

Council chairman Councillor Jude Ainsworth said: “The canal is extremely dangerous both for children and adults.”

He was to submit a motion at the next council meeting calling on the Board of Works to pipe the canal and fill it in immediately.

Councillor William Lavelle, who lived near the canal on the Westport Road, said: “Local people are terrified because of the open canal, which drops to a depth of 30 feet in many places. The canal also flows through St. Mary’s Psychiatric Hospital and is a grave hazard to patients.”

Councillor William Cresham said: “I actually became dizzy when I looked over the bank of the canal. Anyone who falls in could not possibly escape death.”

Independent Councillor John Henaghan added: “I visited the canal and I was shocked to see the danger to the public that exists there. I wouldn’t like to have any of my children living near the river where there is absolutely no protection. As a member of the council I join in appealing to the Board of Works to cover the river immediately or else provide adequate fencing.

“Unless this is done tragedies are bound to occur there and in its present condition it is a definite danger to the public.”

Mr. Paddy Ludden, father of six, who resided just a short distance from the canal, said: “We parents continually worry whenever our children go out playing in case they go near the death trap.

“If something is not done to alleviate the danger shortly, we will send a letter of protest to the government.”

A local Board of Works engineer said: “We have heard of some protests about the condition of the canal, and if we receive an official complaint we will pass it on to our head office in Dublin.”

As a youngster I was always scared to peer over the walls into the deep canal on either side of the road into Creagh Villa, the Gillespie ancestral home, on the Westport Road - now the Lough Lannagh Holiday Village. Even today to look down into the canal sends a shiver up my back and yet every time I pass it I must look over both walls and wonder how the canal was ever dug out.

My colleague Johnny Mee enlightened our readers that workmen dug out the canal using spades and shovels.

When they reached Creagh Villa they encountered huge sheets of rock, as can be seen in the photograph.

Undaunted, the workers laboured under the worst possible conditions, slowly hacking their way with sledge hammers through the tough rock face.

Johnny told us the area is known as Pollinagollum and workers were paid 1/6d a day, starting at 7 a.m. and often working on until 8 p.m.