Locks

A lock is a chamber with gates at each end that lifts or lowers your boat from one water level to the next. The first one feels like a test; by the third it is the best part of the day. Ireland has three kinds.

The basics in every lock

• Lifejackets on. Everyone working ropes on deck must wear one in every lock on the waterways (Special Marine Notice 1/2026).
• Approach slowly and wait at the lead-in jetty until the gates open and you are waved in. Lead-in jetties are not for overnight mooring.
• Go in gently, stop with a touch of reverse, and pass a bow line and a stern line around the bollards or rails on the wall. Hold the ropes; never tie them. Take them in as the water rises, let them out as it falls.
• Engine in neutral or off, fenders out, hands and feet inside the boat. Nobody stands between the boat and the wall.
• Keep clear of the sill: when going down, keep the stern well away from the top gates.
• Share the chamber when there is room (it saves water and time), and leave slowly once the gates are fully open.

Shannon locks: a lock-keeper does the work

The Shannon has 7 locks on the main river (including the ESB's double lock at Ardnacrusha), 1 on the River Suck and 3 on the Lough Allen Canal. Lock-keepers run them all: you steer in, hold your ropes and follow their lead. Passage costs 2 Smart Card units or €1.50 cash (Waterways Ireland).

Opening hours as published for 2026:

Locks close for lunch from 13:00 to 14:00. Plan your lunch stop around the break, and reach the last lock of the day well before closing time: a passage takes a while when several boats are waiting. Hours can change from year to year.

Two Shannon locks need booking: Ardnacrusha (ESB), 48 hours ahead, and Sarsfield Lock in Limerick, which works only on certain days around the tide (Special Marine Notice 1/2026). Ardnacrusha is closed from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027 (Marine Notice 106/2026). Many hire contracts do not allow boats below Killaloe anyway.

Shannon–Erne Waterway: you work the lock with a Smart Card

The 16 locks between Leitrim village and Upper Lough Erne are worked by the crew from a console at the lockside. You insert a Smart Card (1 unit per lock), and the diagrams on the console show each step. Hours are 09:00 to 20:00 from April to October and 09:00 to dusk in winter. Waterway patrollers can help; their numbers are on the Waterways Ireland page.

Drop one crew member at the lead-in jetty to work the console while the others hold the ropes. In winter parts of the waterway close for maintenance: in 2026–27, locks 8 to 10 from 2 November and lock 1 from 16 November, each for about three months (Marine Notice 112/2026).

Erne: one lock, usually open

Portora Lock at Enniskillen, the Erne's only lock, is usually open to boats in the cruising season and is run by DfI Rivers for ESB. If it is closed when levels are low, call DfI Rivers on +44 28 6638 8529 (Waterways Ireland).

Grand Canal, Royal Canal and Barrow: by hand, in daylight

These locks are hand-worked by the crew, in daylight hours only. You need a lock key (the crank that winds the sluices), enough crew and good ropes. Waterways Ireland sells them through its offices and some lock-keepers, at €50 or €25 depending on which of its pages you read (FAQ, boat-owner information). If you hire on the canals, ask whether a key comes with the boat.

Some things to know:

• Open the sluices slowly, wait until the levels are equal before you push the gates, and close every sluice you opened before you leave. A sluice left open drains the level above.
• Some canal locks are locked and only a Waterways Ireland patroller may operate them, including locks on the Barrow Line, the Royal Canal (lock 17) and the Grand Canal (locks 19 and 20) since summer 2026 (Marine Notice 88/2026). Call ahead.
• Dublin: locks 1 to 12 on both canals need notice to the Eastern Regional Office (two to three working days; Waterways Ireland's pages differ), and the Newcomen lifting bridge on the Royal Canal opens only on arranged dates with two weeks' notice.
• Size limits: Royal Canal lock 10 cannot take boats 3.5 m wide or more.

Lower Bann

Five lock-keeper locks between Toome and Coleraine, closed for lunch from 13:00 to 14:00. Hours run from 09:00 to 20:00 in summer and 10:00 to 16:00 in winter. Passage is £1 per lock, or 50p each when two or more boats share (Waterways Ireland).

Say hello to the lock-keepers; a thank-you goes a long way. More on sharing locks and jetties in Etiquette.