Through the Shannon-Erne Waterway and Lough Erne Pt 2

In a previous issue of the Journal I described part of a journey Linda and I made down through the Lough Erne system in Ireland. Probably one of the best touring routes amongst our islands, these loughs and rivers are relatively unfrequented. Here I’m just going to describe what is probably the standard itinerary for the trip, although once you look at the more detailed maps you will see that there are a whole host of possibilities.

Maps

1. 1:25000 Upper Lough Erne; Fermanagh Lakeland Outdoor Pursuits Map and Navigation Guide; Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland; ISBN 1-873819-23-4.

2. 1:25000 Lower Lough Erne; Fermanagh Lakeland Outdoor Pursuits Map and Navigation Guide; Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland; ISBN unknown.

3. Atlas of Ireland; AA AutoMaps.
There are other maps confusingly also called ‘Upper Lough Erne’ & ‘Lower Lough Erne’ in apparently the same ‘Outdoor Pursuits Sheets’ series items 1 & 2 above but instead at a scale of 1:50,000. Some things in Ireland are, well, just a little Irish!

Useful Addresses

Lakeland Canoe Centre, Castle Island, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, Northern Ireland BT74 7BA

The Shannon-Erne Waterway

The Shannon-Erne Waterway connects the two watersheds of the Rivers Erne & Shannon & was opened some ten years ago. It runs from Leitrim on the Shannon itself (just north of Carrick-on-Shannon on the N4), via a series of lakes to the River Woodford which feeds directly to Upper Lough Erne between Belturbet (junction N3 & R200 on the border) & Newtownbutler (on the A34).

To use the Waterway its best to purchase a Shannon-Erne Waterway card from a local post office. This card is loaded with a certain amount of credit units. This gives you access to facilities at the fairly frequent mooring sites used by charter cabin cruisers. It also allowed us to operate the astonishing automated locks - you too can be lazy! These mooring areas provided us with neat little campsites - you could probably fit in a couple of 3-person tents in with ease - & I suppose the cards proved that we were authorised users but nobody ever did challenge us. The costs for each facility were:
Lock passage: 1 unit Showers: 2 units
Toilet: 2 units Washing machine: 5 units
Spin drier: 5 units
We found a card with 20 units entirely sufficient for the run from Garradice Lough to Upper Lough Erne as most of the toilets were, in fact, free and we didn’t see any clothes washing machines. You can wash undies in a shower anyway.

As you approach Upper Lough Erne a good number of alternate routes open up, so with canoes you can distance yourself from the cruisers for the first time and find your own way through the maze of shallow backwaters and secluded rush-filled loughs. Watch out for special places like Carraback Lough and interesting passages like the Foallies Cut (its about 2m wide and 600m long - the local equivalent of the Corinth Canal!).

Upper Lough Erne

This lough system locally (combination of Upper Lough Erne and an astonishing looking maze of loughs to the south) looks on the map as if it reaches from just west of Cavan (on the N3) until the river redevelops some 5 miles (in a straight line) south of Enniskillen (on A4 & A32), but in fact when we were there an inspection of the river joining the two sets of open water as it flows through Belturbet showed us that, at least then, the River Erne was too low to allow us passage. This confirmed our original intention to start on the Waterway at Garradice Lough.
The Upper Lough is choked with islands, but don’t let this fool you into thinking that you’re well sheltered if the wind gets up as there's a fetch long enough to throw up a nasty short but steep chop. If you’re running a laden boat without a spray deck, as we were, the boat can begin to swamp surprisingly quickly.

The Lough itself is beautiful with tree cloaked islands and a shore bordered by fields and woods. Apart from the occasional farmer or cabin cruiser (and these seem to keep to a tightly defined channel) you may not see another soul until you approach Enniskillen.

Worth visiting:
- That maze of waterways to the east as you come down the River Woodford towards Crom;
- Crom castle and its surrounds, dominated by ancient oak woodland - by far and away the best place to camp and well worth exploring, on both land and water.

Lower Lough Erne

The Lower Lough is open and exposed and we saw quite a height of wave build on it quickly. Winds while we were there were consistently from the NW, which surprised us more than a little. We did a day trip down the river from Enniskillen to Devenish Island, an ancient monastic site with a solitary tower. A very fine place where it takes only little imagination to believe that you’re wandering the same island 1000 years ago.

Enniskillen itself is well worth having a good look around, especially the castle and the interesting collection of craft shops.

Itinerary

The following itinerary leans on the Lakeland Canoe Centre’s suggested ‘canoe trail’, which interestingly is written to take you upstream to Belturbet, rather than downstream as we found more convenient. We also wanted the option of going down into the Lower Lough if we had time and it looks as if you run upstream the River Erne itself, if low, begins to limit your options. Much probably depends upon a combination of where you find to leave your car and public transport. Buses between the main towns are frequent and taxis easy to find. Write to the Canoe Centre and ask for a copy of their canoe trail information as I’m sure it will be more up to date in terms of local interests, pubs and restaurants than this article.

Option 1: Garradice Lough via Ballymagauran Lake to Ballyconnell by
canal;
To Crom Castle via River Woodford;

Option 2: Belturbet to Crom castle (9.5km)

Then: Crom to Share Holiday Village (7.5km)

Share Holiday Village to Knockinny / Nann Island (8km)

Nann Island to Carrybridge (7.5km)

Carrybridge to Enniskillen (14.5km)

Camping

I’ve mentioned the Waterway mooring sites already as viable campsites, but when you come into the Upper Lough you can easily find out of the way corners, especially on the more overgrown islands. There is a delightful small campsite at Crom Castle (actually near the ruins of the old castle rather than the newer one) on the shore NE of Crichton Tower (a folly) on Gad Island. There’s also a big busy site called the Share Centre half way down the Lough on the eastern shore - but unless you’re forced in there by weather as we were, don’t go unless you like late-night music and lots of activity!

On the run down the river to Enniskillen we camped at a couple of places, one a small campsite at Carry Bridge and another on a picnic site beside Ballanaleck Jetty.

At Enniskillen itself you can camp on the island which is home to the Lakeland Canoe Centre and a small fee allows you access to toilets & showers.

We never reached the Lower Lough except on a day trip to Devenish Island, so I can’t help you much, but the eastern and northern shores are the more interesting by far..

Navigation

Watch out, for nobody seems to obey any speed rules and a cruiser or speedboat can come up behind you round a bend very quickly. Keep to your side of the channel if you’re contesting passage just as you would on a canal in the UK. The main channel through the Upper Lough is marked with big poles and we found it advisable to keep well clear of it when we could. Not that it’s busy, mind, but nobody expects to find anybody else in the way.

Finally

This area used to be well known as ‘bandit country’, referring to the recent troubles. We had no difficulty whatsoever and were only aware of the occasional helicopter. Everywhere we went the locals were overwhelmingly generous and hospitable. ( Which is what Linda had predicted before we went.)

Colin Taylor