Before the railways, coal, turf, grain and passengers moved by water. Here are 21 of the island's canals and navigations, from the Newry Canal of 1742 to the Shannon–Erne link rebuilt in the 1990s, with what became of each.
About 3½ miles from Newry's Albert Basin to Carlingford Lough. Enlarged 1884; closed as a commercial operation in 1966; still navigable by pleasure craft. Covered in the Newry Canal article.
Begun 1756–57 under Thomas Omer. Open from Sallins to Dublin in 1779, to Athy (joining the Barrow) by 1791; the main line to the Shannon at Shannon Harbour was officially opened in April 1804. The last working cargo barge passed through in 1960. Branches to Naas, Athy (the Barrow Line) and formerly Mountmellick.
Begun May 1790 at Cross Guns Bridge as a rival to the Grand Canal; opened to Cloondara on the Shannon in 1817. CIÉ closed the navigation in 1961. The whole length to the Shannon was formally reopened on 1 October 2010; the spur to Longford town remains closed.
Begun 1832, opened to ships 1846, Tralee to Blennerville. Closed in 1951 because of silting and the growth of Fenit; restored (infobox: 1999) after the restoration of Blennerville Windmill.
Bypasses a non-navigable stretch of the Shannon between Jamestown and Drumsna. Built by the Shannon Commissioners in 1848 to replace an earlier, smaller canal (infobox act: 1697).
Work on the Ballinamore and Ballyconnell Canal began in 1846; it was handed over on 4 July 1860, but only eight boats used it between 1860 and 1869 and it fell out of use (infobox closure: 1870). Rebuilt from November 1990 and reopened on 23 May 1994 at Corraquill Lock. Sixteen locks, Leitrim village to Upper Lough Erne.
The navigable headrace of the Shannon Scheme, officially opened at Parteen Weir on 22 July 1929. Listed as navigable in Wikipedia's canal list. The older route via the Killaloe Canal and the Plassey–Errina canal (six locks) can no longer be entered by boat, as there is no lock at Parteen Weir.
Non-tidal river navigation of 23 locks over 66 km from Athy to the tidal limit at St Mullin's, joined at Athy by the Barrow Line of the Grand Canal (45 km, 9 locks). No opening year in the article. Described in the River Barrow article; no article of its own.
Built in the 1840s to carry limestone to Athlone; fell into disuse after 17 years, cleaned up in 1889, dredged by the OPW in the 1960s. Links Lecarrow to Lough Ree.
Connected Strabane to the navigable River Foyle at Porthall. Two locks.
Built 1825–1842 from Charlemont to near Wattlebridge, with 26 locks narrower than other Irish waterways; the article calls it an abject commercial failure. Closed 1931. Phase 1 of rebuilding, from Quivvy Lough to Castle Saunderson, was nearing completion in September 2019; Phase 2 (Clones to Clonfad) was funded in 2020–21.
Built to carry Tyrone coal to the Irish Sea, about 20 miles from Portadown to Newry. The article text says opened 1742; its infobox gives 1741. Closed to navigation in 1949; the towpath is now part of the National Cycle Network and the Ulster Way.
Belfast to Lisburn opened 1763; the link to Lough Neagh was completed in December 1793. The two sections closed in 1954 and 1958, and the Sprucefield–Moira section was destroyed by the M1 in the 1960s.
Linked the Drumglass collieries to Coalisland using three inclined planes instead of locks. There is little evidence it was ever used; the planes were dismantled in 1787.
Begun 1733 (infobox act: 1732), officially opened 1787, to carry Tyrone coal towards Dublin. Traffic peaked in 1931. The article text says abandoned in 1954; its infobox gives 1946.
Lower section Oldbridge (near Drogheda) to Slane begun 1748 and finished in the 1760s; upper section to Navan completed 1800. Infobox closure: 1920s. The IWAI Boyne branch holds a licence from An Taisce to restore it.
Galway city to Lough Corrib. Begun March 1848; formally opened on 28 August 1852 by the Lord Lieutenant, Lord Eglinton. The last boat passed in 1954, after which the swing bridges were replaced with fixed ones.
Built in the 1820s, about 2 miles from Ballymacran Point on Lough Foyle towards Limavady; the planned extension to Limavady was never built. The article says there is no positive record of its demise.
Linked Mullingar to the north shore of Lough Ennell; built in the 18th century. Still canoeable from the Lynn road bridge to the lake.
Meant to link Lough Corrib and Lough Mask as part of the Corrib, Mask and Carra drainage and navigation scheme; abandoned unfinished in 1854.
Meant to make the Nore navigable to Kilkenny; funded by the Irish Parliament in 1755 (£10,000), abandoned in 1761. No barge ever reached Kilkenny.
Of the canals here, the Newry Canal has the earliest opening year: 1742 (its Wikipedia infobox says 1741). It carried Tyrone coal from Lough Neagh towards the Irish Sea.
Wikipedia gives the Grand Canal's main line as 132 km, opened to the Shannon in 1804, and the Royal Canal as 145 km, opened in 1817. The Royal closed in 1961 and was reopened to the Shannon in 2010.
Shannon–Erne Waterway (Ballinamore and Ballyconnell Canal) (1994), Tralee Ship Canal (1999), Royal Canal (2010). Work on the Ulster Canal is under way in phases.
The canals named in Wikipedia's list of canals in Ireland, with lengths and years from each one's own article. Where an article's text and infobox disagree, the note says so. Counties are those of the towns and termini each article names. Irish names are given only where the article gives one. Rivers made navigable, such as the Shannon, Erne and Lower Bann, are not listed separately; the Barrow Navigation is, because the canal list names it.
Also on Wikipedia's list but without an article of their own, so with nothing to report here: Athlone Canal, Ballinasloe Canal, Bridgetown Canal, Lismore Canal, Park Canal (Limerick), Killaloe Canal.