6th Lock & Cross Guns Bridge
Where digging began in 1790: the city locks at Phibsborough, on a towpath with Brendan Behan's statue, Croke Park and Hamilton's Broom Bridge.
- By arrangement
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Lock times
By arrangement Opened by arrangement
| Today – Thu, 5 Nov | See the notice |
|---|
Notice: Locks 1–12 and the Spencer Dock sea lock are passed only by arrangement with the Waterways Ireland Eastern Regional Office (+353 1 868 0148, dublincanals@waterwaysireland.org, Mon–Fri 09:30–16:30), which plans each city crossing as one day's movement. Lock 12 needs at least two days' notice and takes two boats a day. Lifejackets must be worn in the lock.
Times are worked out on this device and change with the season: check the notice. Check the Waterways Ireland marine notices
Source of the times · Times checked 23 Oct 2026
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About 6th Lock & Cross Guns Bridge
The first sod of the Royal Canal was turned at Cross Guns Bridge in Phibsborough in May 1790, and the 6th lock here is part of the flight that carries the canal up from Spencer Dock through the north city. Locks 1 to 12 are worked only by arrangement with Waterways Ireland, which plans each crossing of the city as a single day's movement, so this is a place to pass through rather than to linger aboard. On foot the towpath is full of stories. Brendan Behan, who sang of the Royal Canal in The Auld Triangle, sits in bronze on a bench at Binn's Bridge in Drumcondra, and in Cabra a plaque on Broom Bridge marks where William Rowan Hamilton scratched the formula for quaternions into the stone in October 1843.
Things to do 3
- Heritage
Broom Bridge and the Hamilton plaque
The canal bridge at Cabra where William Rowan Hamilton wrote down the quaternion formula on 16 October 1843; a plaque marks the spot and a walk retraces his route every year.
- Heritage
Brendan Behan statue, Binn's Bridge
Bronze of the writer on a canal-side bench in Drumcondra, put up in 2003; his song The Auld Triangle names the Royal Canal.
- Museum
Croke Park Stadium Tour & GAA Museum
The home of Gaelic games, with stadium and rooftop Skyline tours and the GAA Museum; Waterways Ireland lists it among the sights easily reached from the city canals.
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Neighbours by water
- Newcomen Lift Bridge By arrangement
- Spencer Dock & Sea Lock By arrangement
- 10th Lock, Ashtown By arrangement
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≈ distances are computed along the water, not along the marked channel. Times are our estimate: 5 km/h and 20 minutes a lock. Check the Waterways Ireland marine notices
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