Boat hire
Also sold as: Hausboot Irland, Les Canalous and Riverly
Carrickcraft hires out self-drive cruisers from three bases: Carrick-on-Shannon, Banagher on the Middle Shannon and Bellanaleck on Lough Erne. Now part of the Riverly group, it offers boats for 2 to 12 people, including Linssen yachts, one-way trips between its bases and a German-language booking site.
From the company’s own hire terms, checked on 23 Oct 2026. Terms change, so confirm them when you book.
Read the hire terms (opens another website) Compare all companies What the hire terms say
Where the boats are. Each base is a stop in the guide, with its moorings and what is ashore.
Middle Shannon & River Suck
Carrickcraft’s southern base: self-drive cruisers for the Shannon south of Athlone and Lough Derg; base office open Monday to Friday.
The Marina, Curraghavarna, Banagher, Co. Offaly, R42 DH51
+353 57 915 1187 Base website (opens another website)
Also hiring here: Silverline Cruisers
Upper Shannon: Lanesborough to Carrick
Carrickcraft’s original base, opened in 1970, with self-drive cruisers for the Shannon and the Shannon–Erne Waterway.
The Marina, St George’s Terrace, Carrick-on-Shannon, N41 XA00
+353 71 962 0236 Base website (opens another website)
Also hiring here: Le Boat
Upper Lough Erne
Carrickcraft’s Erne base for self-drive cruisers, with routes over the whole lough and one-way trips to the Shannon; office open Monday to Saturday.
The Moorings, 156 Derrylin Road, Bellanaleck, Enniskillen, BT92 2BA
+44 28 3834 4993 Head office Base website (opens another website)
Day-by-day routes with distances, locks and cruising times, ready to open in the trip planner.
A relaxed week from Carrick-on-Shannon up the Boyle River to Lough Key and Boyle, then back by Leitrim and the Lough Allen Canal with a night under the Iron Mountain.
Moderate Round trip
Photo: Andreas F. Borchert · CC BY-SA 4.0
Seven short days from Carrick-on-Shannon, none much over three hours: Jamestown, the Boyle River to Cootehall and Boyle, a night in Lough Key Forest Park, then Leitrim and Drumshanbo, with no Lough Allen crossing.
Easy Round trip
Photo: Oliver Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0
Three easy nights from Carrick-on-Shannon: Leitrim village, the little Lough Allen Canal past Battlebridge, a night in Drumshanbo and back down to Carrick.
Easy Round trip
Photo: tower10 · CC BY-SA 3.0
A week's round trip from Carrick-on-Shannon through the small lakes of the Upper Shannon and the full length of Lough Ree to Athlone, with a Tarmonbarry check before you book.
Moderate Round trip
Photo: Jonjobaker · CC BY-SA 4.0
Six nights from Banagher up the quiet Middle Shannon to Shannonbridge, Clonmacnoise and Athlone, with a detour up the River Suck to Ballinasloe on the way back.
Easy Round trip
Photo: Jonjobaker · CC BY-SA 4.0
A week from Banagher down through Meelick and Portumna onto Lough Derg, with nights at Terryglass, Dromineer, Killaloe, Mountshannon and Portumna before the run home.
Moderate Round trip
Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0
Eleven nights from Carrick-on-Shannon over the Shannon–Erne Waterway's sixteen Smart Card locks to Belturbet on the Erne and back, with no day much over five hours.
Moderate Round trip
Photo: Suse · CC BY-SA 2.0
Four lock-free nights from Carrickcraft's Bellanaleck base among the islands of Upper Lough Erne, with the National Trust's Crom estate, Galloon Island and the river town of Belturbet.
Easy Round trip
Photo: Suse · CC BY-SA 2.0
A week from Carrickcraft's Bellanaleck base down the Erne through Enniskillen and across the Broad Lough to Belleek, out along the north shore and back under the Cliffs of Magho.
Moderate Round trip
Photo: Kenneth Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0
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