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Last week we looked at industry in late 19th century. On this occasion we explore the decline of Newry Canal and the Port after the 1880s.
In 1901 the Newry Port and Harbour Trust was established to administer the Port and Inland Canal (replacing the Newry Navigation Company). The Port was a major source of employment and was the main point of import and export, supporting many local businesses. Hauling to and from the Port by horse and cart was a major economic activity for professional hauliers like the Pattersons. On 30th September 1909 the Newry Reporter recorded eight barges supplying Clanrye Mills at both Sugar island and on Hill Street beside the Cathedral. Maize was imported from the River Plate, loaded into the lighters at the Doyle Pool, carried into and up the Canal, and then loaded onto carts.
Buttercrane Quay was still being used for markets in the early 1900’s. Messrs Fennel & Co. Flour Millers had a mill in Buttercrane Quay during the early 20th century. An advertisement from 1909 highlights some of the premises on the Quay owned by John Carvill of Carvill Brothers, including a Sawing and Plane Mill, a Spade and Shovel Factory, extensive yards and shedding, and a Weaving Factory supplied with power by Carvill’s own steam plant. P. Lynch Cabinet Malker, Upholseter and French Polisher also had premises on Buttercrane Quay in the 1920’s. Fisher and Sons operated as wholesale distribution agents in the 1910’s and a spade manufacturers in the 1920’s. In 1935 they purchased A. Shiels and Co. Ltd. Fisher’s was described as the largest employer of labour in the Newry area in 1937.
The advent of the railways and the increasing use of motorised vehicles contributed to the decline of the Canal from the 1900s onwards. In 1933 only 6,000 tons of goods were carried on the Inland Canal compared with120,000 tons one hundred years earlier. More space was needed for people to park their vehicles and there was increasing demand for permanent bridges at the expense of keeping the Canal open to boats. By 1951/52 the Canal Bank had become a car park and the land adjoining Soho Place was being considered for an additional car park in 1958. Lighter men, like Dan Skelton, who once lived on their barges along the quays, became a sight of the past.
The Inland Canal had fallen into disuse in the late 1930s and the town section that had remained open for lighters, was finally closed in 1956. By the 1950’s the old Turning Basin was considered an eyesore and ideas were proposed which suggested filling it in. This idea eventually came to fruition, as did the demolition of the old rusty bridges across the Canal. The old Dublin Bridge in Newry was dismantled in 1958 and Sugar Island had a new modern wide angled bridge fitted by December1959 at the intersection of Merchants Quay and Canal Street. The then retiring Town Surveyor, Mr Charles Blayney, his successor Mr Colm Geary and the Town Clerk, Mr G. Cronin, took the first trip in car over the bridge on Monday 14th December.
Live cattle and pigs were still exported from the Albert Basin on the M.V. Dundalk in the 1960’s. Occasional timber boats unloaded close to Dublin Bridge and two large dockside coal cranes unloaded coal. On Wednesday 27th March 1974 the M.V. Broere, which had sailed from the Manchester Ship Canal, discharged 650 tons of acetose at the tanks on the Omeath Road, swung out of the Albert Basin and left the Victoria Locks. It was to be the last ship to use Newry Port which was closed that year, being replaced by the larger facilities at Warrenpoint.
The Museum is currently offering free tours of the exhibition galleries on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 2.00 pm. These must be booked in advance by calling our Education Officer at 0330 137 4422.
Newry and Mourne Museum is open Tuesday – Saturday 10.00 am – 4.30 pm. Please call 0330 137 4422 or email museums@nmandd.org for further information.
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