Canals & the Barrow Canal Ireland
Ireland's classic barge canal: 135 km and 48 hand-worked locks, counting the short Naas Branch, from Dublin's docks across Kildare and the Offaly bogs to the Shannon at Shannon Harbour.
Days and hours are our estimate: 5 km/h and 20 minutes a lock, about six hours a day.
Start from a ready-made trip, or plan your own day by day: distances, locks and overnight moorings.
The Grand Canal took 47 years to build, reached the Shannon in 1804 and carried its last cargo barge in 1960. Today it is a slow, green ribbon from Grand Canal Dock in Dublin to Shannon Harbour in Offaly: 131 km on the main line with 43 locks, all worked by your own crew, plus the 4 km Naas Branch with five more. In the city it follows the Circular Line past Georgian bridges and restaurant barges, and passage through the city locks, as far as the 12th Lock at Lucan, has to be arranged in advance. Beyond Lucan the canal turns rural, crosses the Liffey on the Leinster Aqueduct and climbs to its summit at Robertstown and Lowtown, where the Barrow Line branches off for Athy. From there it heads west across the Bog of Allen through Edenderry, Daingean and whiskey-making Tullamore, then past early Christian Rahan, bog-oak Pollagh and the double lock at Belmont to the Shannon. Expect few boats, villages with a pub by the bridge, otters and herons, and the towpath of the Grand Canal Way beside you from Lucan to the Shannon.
18 stops from Grand Canal Dock to 36th Lock, Shannon Harbour.
Desk research, not yet checked on site
The canal’s Dublin terminus: a Georgian dock basin off the Liffey, now ringed by glass offices, a theatre and a watersports shop, entered through the Ringsend sea lock.
Photo: 瑞丽江的河水 · CC BY-SA 4.0
The lowest bridge on the whole Grand Canal, with just 2.45 m of headroom, where the canal leaves Grand Canal Dock under the railway.
The leafy heart of the Circular Line, with Patrick Kavanagh’s statue and memorial seat and two restaurant barges moored along Mespil Road.
The gateway between Dublin and the countryside: the last of the city locks, kept secured and opened by appointment, where westbound boats reach open canal.
Photo: Royalcanalrunner · CC BY-SA 4.0
A canal-side crossroads on the Dublin–Kildare border with a pub by the water, a settled boating community and a main-line station for crew changes.
Photo: Irishshagua · CC BY-SA 4.0
Kildare’s liveliest canal stop: long visitor jetties with water and pump-out, a brewpub on the bank, barge trips to the Leinster Aqueduct and trains to Dublin.
Photo: Royalcanalrunner · CC BY-SA 4.0
Kildare’s county town at the head of the five-lock Naas Branch, with a quiet harbour beside the restored canal stores, a few minutes from the shops.
Photo: 瑞丽江的河水 · CC BY-SA 4.0
The planned canal village on the summit level, 85 m above the sea, with its grand 1801 canal hotel, a village harbour and slipway, and the start of the Barrow Way.
Photo: Eirian Evans · CC BY-SA 2.0
The junction where the Barrow Line leaves the main line at Lock 19, with long serviced visitor jetties, a service block and a private marina basin.
Photo: JP · CC BY-SA 2.0
A fast-growing village a short walk from the canal on the edge of the Bog of Allen, with a café-bar, a supermarket and the memory of a peat-fired power station.
Photo: Royalcanalrunner · CC BY-SA 4.0
A market town at the end of its own short canal branch, with a harbour close to the centre, three historic bridges and an audio-guided heritage trail.
Photo: Royalcanalrunner · CC BY-SA 4.0
The old county town of King’s County, where the canal first opened in 1797, now a quiet stop with a canal-side fishing platform and an August raft race.
Photo: Kenneth Gallery Smyth · CC BY-SA 2.0
Offaly’s county town and the canal’s main inland centre, with a walled 200-year-old harbour, the navigation inspector’s office and the Tullamore Dew distillery.
Photo: 瑞丽江的河水 · CC BY-SA 4.0
A scattered parish west of Tullamore with one of Offaly’s earliest monastic sites, linked with St Carthage, a short walk from the canal.
Photo: JP · CC BY-SA 2.0
A bog village on the canal’s longest level, known for its 1907 church with a carved bog-oak altar and windows from the Harry Clarke studios.
Photo: JP · CC BY-SA 2.0
The 33rd Lock at Belmont, the only double lock on the Offaly stretch, under a stone bridge of about 1800 beside an old mill village.
Photo: JP · CC BY-SA 2.0
The canal’s western terminus where it meets the Shannon and the Brosna: a purpose-built trans-shipment village with a serviced harbour, a pub and a ruined canal hotel.
Photo: James Emmans · CC BY-SA 2.0
The last lock on the Grand Canal, where boats coming off the Shannon and the Brosna first need a canal permit and their own lock key.
Pump-out, water, fuel, shore power, showers and laundry where a listing says so, in route order. Tap a stop for who runs it and when.
A stop not listed here may still have them: nobody has checked yet. Know better? Report a change
Mooring limits, locks, speed and hazards, in our own words with links to the sources.
Every boat on the canal needs a Waterways Ireland permit, displayed on the outside. The yearly Combined Mooring and Passage permit (CMP) costs €126, runs from 1 November to 31 October and pays for lock passages and stays of up to five days at any one public mooring. Visitors can get a free 31-day permit instead, once each calendar year (permits). There is no winter mooring.
Every lock is worked by hand with your own lock key (Waterways Ireland quotes both €50 and €25: ask the Eastern Regional Office, +353 1 868 0148). They open in daylight hours (boater information). The Ringsend sea lock, the Circular Line locks and locks 1–12 in Dublin are passed by arrangement only: e-mail dublincanals@waterwaysireland.org two working days ahead (Special Marine Notice 1/2026), and Lock 12 passes at most two boats a day. In dry spells some locks are secured and need a patroller (19 and 20 in 2026). Since 1 April 2026 a lifejacket or buoyancy aid must be worn at every lock (Marine Notice 35/2026).
Locks are 18.5 m long and 3.9 m wide; draft 1.2 m (1 m in Dublin); air draft 2.7 m, but only 2.45 m under the Ringsend railway bridge. These are guides only.
The limit is 3.2 knots; slow down near bridges, locks and moored boats. Apart from Grand Canal Dock and Shannon Harbour, moorings are linear: jetties or the bank beside the channel.
Toilets, showers and laundry at Shannon Harbour; toilets and showers at Lowtown; pay-as-you-go pump-outs at Lowtown and Sallins. The locks need no Smart Card; it only pays for shore power at Lowtown.
Winter works run from 1 November to 17 March: check before a winter trip, and always read the marine notices.
This is a travel guide, not a navigation aid.
Loading the latest conditions…
48 locks on this waterway. The times below are worked out on this device. They change with the season: always read the notice.
All lock and bridge times Check the Waterways Ireland marine notices
Ready-made trips that start here or pass through.
Current Waterways Ireland marine notices for this waterway. The one-line summaries are ours: read the notice itself.
Source: Waterways Ireland · All marine notices on Waterways Ireland
Our marketplace buz.ie
On buz.ie by county: Co. Offaly (opens buz.ie in a new tab) Co. Dublin (opens buz.ie in a new tab) Co. Kildare (opens buz.ie in a new tab)
Places on the map that are not near one of our stops. Listed on OpenStreetMap, not checked by us. © OpenStreetMap contributors
Opening hours: Mon Closed · Tue–Fri 08:00–17:00 · Sat 10:00–17:00 · Sun 14:00–17:00
facebook.com (opens another website)Opening hours: Mon–Fri 08:00–18:00 · Sat–Sun 09:00–18:00
+353 1 4296997Opening hours: Mon–Sat 07:00–18:00 · Sun 08:00–18:00
Opening hours: Mon–Sun 06:00–18:00
Opening hours: Mon Closed · Tue–Fri 17:00–22:00 · Sat–Sun 12:00–22:00
dosadosa.ie (opens another website)Opening hours: Mon–Sat 08:00–17:00 · Sun 09:00–17:00
+35315674255Opening hours: Mon–Fri 07:00–17:00 · Sat–Sun 08:00–17:00
foggcafe.ie (opens another website)Opening hours: Mon–Fri 08:00–16:00 · Sat–Sun 09:00–16:00
Opening hours: Mon–Sat 08:00–17:00 · Sun 09:00–17:00
Opening hours: Mon–Sun 09:00–17:00
+35314089905Opening hours: Mon–Thu 12:00–22:30 · Fri–Sat 12:00–23:00 · Sun 12:00–22:30
+353 1 616 9581 dolcevita.ie (opens another website)Opening hours: Mon–Fri 09:30–19:00 · Sat 09:30–18:00 · Sun 10:00–18:00
loafcatering.com (opens another website)Opening hours: Mon–Sun 16:30–24:00
Opening hours: Mon–Sun 10:00–16:00
noshington.ie (opens another website)Opening hours: Mon–Wed 09:00–19:00 · Thu 09:00–20:00 · Fri–Sat 09:00–19:00 · Sun 11:00–18:00
+353 1 552 6147 smallchanges.ie (opens another website)Opening hours: Mon–Sat 08:00–17:30 · Sun Closed
Opening hours: Mon–Thu 12:00–23:30 · Fri 12:00–00:30 · Sat 12:00–24:00 · Sun 12:00–23:00
+353 1 454 2157 pubsdirect.ie (opens another website)Opening hours: Mon–Sat 08:30–16:00 · Sun 09:30–16:00
Opening hours: Mon–Sun 08:00–20:00
Opening hours: Mon–Sun 09:00–16:00
instagram.com (opens another website)Opening hours: Mon–Thu 16:00–24:00 · Fri 12:00–24:00 · Sat–Sun 16:00–24:00
+35314080008 vincenzos.ie (opens another website)Opening hours: Mon–Sat 09:00–20:00 · Sun Closed
aldi.ie (opens another website)Opening hours: Mon–Fri 08:00–19:00 · Sat–Sun 09:00–18:00
+353 1 45 44 258 dublinfood.coop (opens another website)Opening hours: Mon–Fri 08:30–21:00 · Sat–Sun 08:30–20:00
dunnesstores.com (opens another website)Opening hours: Mon–Sat 07:00–22:00 · Sun 08:00–22:00
Opening hours: Mon–Fri 07:00–23:00 · Sat–Sun 08:00–23:00
+353 1 460 0141 gala.ie (opens another website)Opening hours: Mon–Sat 08:00–22:00 · Sun 09:00–21:00
lidl.ie (opens another website)Opening hours: Mon–Sun 07:30–21:00
Opening hours: Mon–Fri 10:00–20:00 · Sat 09:00–20:00 · Sun 10:00–19:00
Opening hours: Mon–Sat 10:00–20:00 · Sun 11:00–19:00
Opening hours: Mon–Fri 08:00–22:00 · Sat 08:00–20:00 · Sun 09:00–20:00
Opening hours: Mon–Sun 08:00–22:00
tesco.ie (opens another website)Opening hours: Mon–Sun 09:30–18:00
Opening hours: Mon Closed · Tue–Sun 10:30–16:00
+353 1 491 0041 rscmaheritage.com (opens another website)Opening hours: May
steam-museum.com (opens another website)Opening hours: Mon–Sun 08:00–21:00
Opening hours: Mon–Tue 09:30–12:30, 14:00–16:00 · Wed Closed · Thu 09:30–17:00 · Fri 09:30–18:00 · Sat–Sun Closed
+353 1 626 5458 bicu.ie (opens another website)Opening hours: Mon–Sun 07:00–21:00
+353 1 471 5292Opening hours: Mon–Sun 06:00–21:00
+353 1 450 4898Opening hours: Mon–Sun 00:00–24:00
+353 1 457 3398Opening hours: Mon–Sun 06:30–22:00
+353 1 424 9014Opening hours: Mon–Wed 09:30–16:30 · Thu 10:00–17:30 · Fri 09:30–16:30 · Sat 09:30–12:30 · Sun Closed
Opening hours: Mon–Thu 09:00–13:00, 14:00–16:00 · Fri 09:00–13:00 · Sat–Sun Closed
Opening hours: Mon–Tue 09:30–17:00 · Wed 10:00–17:00 · Thu–Fri 09:30–17:00 · Sat–Sun Closed
ebs.ie (opens another website)Opening hours: Mon–Sun 00:00–24:00
Opening hours: Mon–Sat 07:00–22:00 · Sun 08:00–22:00
