NEW Season 4

In the NEW SEASON 4 of Waterways through Time, historian Turtle Bunbury explores Ireland’s rivers, lakes, and canals through conversations with remarkable voices. Historian Rob Goodbody explains how our waterways were first mapped. Brian Cassells tells the story of the Ulster Canal and its modern revival. Liam Kenny shares the lore and legends of Kildare’s towpaths. Admiral Michael Clarke recalls the yachting traditions of Lough Erne and its role in World War Two. John and Sandra Lefroy invite us aboard the Phoenix at Killaloe. Military historian Dr Harman Murtagh reflects on war and settlement along the waterways. And sailing historian Vincent Delany charts the story of the Shannon One Design.

32: The Grand Canal Docks 10/21/2025

32: The Grand Canal Docks Turtle recounts the remarkable tale of the rise, fall and resurrection of the vital docks and locks that linked Dublin Port and the River Liffey to the Grand Canal and the inland system beyond. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/38734690

27: The Ulster Canal 10/16/2025

27: The Ulster Canal Turtle interviews Brian Cassells about the creation of the Ulster Canal, including its 2024 renaissance in Clones. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/38603780

31: Towpath Trails of Kildare 10/16/2025

31: Towpath Trails of Kildare Turtle talks with Kildare historian Liam Kenny about the impact of the canals and the River Barrow on the history and lore of county Kildare, which has 120 km of canal side walking routes. Liam tells Turtle about some of the engineering triumphs, architectural legacies and other fascinating anecdotes. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/38603685

30: The Phoenix 10/16/2025

30: The Phoenix John and Sandra Lefroy talk with Turtle about the Phoenix, their beloved boat, which is moored at the foot of their garden in Killaloe. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/38603580

29: Yachting on the Waterways 10/14/2025

29: Yachting on the Waterways Turtle talks with yachting historian Vincent Delany about the Shannon One Design - Ireland’s iconic 18-foot clinker-built racing yachts - and explores their origins, design, as well as colourful yachtsmen from Lord Crofton to Jimmy Furey, and the rich heritage of sailing on the Shannon’s lakes. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/38576205

28: Lough Erne 10/07/2025

28: Lough Erne Turtle talks with Michael Clarke, an admiral of the Lough Erne Yacht Club, about the lake’s unique water culture, the legacy of yachting, the original regatta, and its role as a base for RAF Catalina (American, California) flying boats in World War Two (Pacific battles.) /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/38500490

26: Mapping Waterways 10/07/2025

26: Mapping Waterways Turtle talks with Rob Goodbody, a prominent historian and conservation consultant, about how Ireland’s waterways were surveyed and mapped in times past. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/38500025

25: War on the Waterways 10/07/2025

25: War on the Waterways Turtle talks with Dr. Harman Murtagh, a former president of the Military History Society of Ireland, about the story of the historic settlement on the lakeshore and the islands. Harmon also homes in on boating on the lough from ancient times and the lakes’ island monasteries. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/38499890

24: The Navvys 07/18/2024

24: The Navvys Turtle is joined by Ultan Cowley who shares his insights into the daily lives, motivations and semi-mythological reputations of the Irish navvies who built the canals, and how their successors built Britain’s railways, motorways and the Channel Tunnel. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/32202712

23: The Royal Canal 07/11/2024

23: The Royal Canal Beginning on the eve of the French Revolution, the Royal Canal is Ireland’s longest manmade waterway running for 145 km (90 miles) from Dublin to the River Shannon. Here Turtle tells the colourful story of its founders Long John Binns and William Cope, and looks at why it took almost 30 years to finish the project. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/32096967

22: The 30 Year Anniversary of the Shannon-Erne Waterway 07/04/2024

22: The 30 Year Anniversary of the Shannon-Erne Waterway It is now 30 yrs since the completion of the Shannon-Erne waterway, linking the Shannon and Erne river systems. It was a pioneering project in many ways, not least as one of the first major collaborative efforts between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Turtle talks with renowned engineer Joe Gillespie, the main OPW representative on the project, for a reflection on how the transformational waterway came about. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/32017132

21: Writers on the Erne 06/27/2024

21: Writers on the Erne Irish language novelist and historian Séamas Mac Annaidh discusses his childhood on the island of Enniskillen, as well as the monks who compiled the Annals of Ulster on Belle Isle, the school where Oscar Wilde and Samuel Beckett studied, and a poem about American GIs playing baseball amid the ruins of Devinish Island. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/31920132

20: Genesis 06/20/2024

20: Genesis Featuring cameos by James Joyce’s canal-building forbear and Black Tom Wentworth, we learn how the desire to drain and improve Ireland’s boglands led the industrious Georgians to slowly (very slowly) construct some of the island’s earliest canals and waterways. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/31620522

19: The Grand Canal 06/20/2024

19: The Grand Canal Turtle charts the twists and turns of the long-running project to connect Dublin to the River Shannon. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/31828332

18: THE 29th LOCK 06/18/2024

18: THE 29th LOCK Patsy Cummins is the third generation of her family to work on the Grand Canal. Having been keeper of the 29th lock near Tullamore, she talks of the friendships she made along the way and explains how a tragedy at Shannon Bridge brought her family east to Ballycowan. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/31737952

17: Paddling the Waterways 05/30/2024

17: Paddling the Waterways Dive into this gorgeous interview with Gwen Wilkinson, who named her homemade boat ‘Minnot’ before setting out on her 400 km journey from the shores of Lough Erne to the tidal waters of the River Barrow in Ireland. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/31384712

16: Hidden Treasures of the Waterways 05/12/2023

16: Hidden Treasures of the Waterways Turtle talks with marine archaeologist, Dr Connie Kelleher, about the exciting revelations of underwater archaeology on Irish waterways from Neolithic logboats to battle debris to the treasures of the modern age. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/26821131

15: Boating on the Barrow 05/12/2023

15: Boating on the Barrow Boating guru Cliff Reid of www.boatrips.ie discusses the glorious historical, geographical and natural elements of the River Barrow, the second-longest river in Ireland. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/26821092

14: The Maguires, Kings of Fermanagh 04/18/2023

14: The Maguires, Kings of Fermanagh The Maguires, Kings of Fermanagh, were once among the most prominent dynasties in the north-west of Ireland. At their peak, their fleet of white sail boats gave them complete dominance of the waterways in and around Lough Erne, where they built the first castle at Enniskillen. This is the story of their rise and all. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/26574534

13: The Voyage from St. James’s Gate 04/18/2023

13: The Voyage from St. James’s Gate Turtle talks with historian, Cathy Scuffil about one of the most iconic aspects of the Canal Age – the sight of barges laden with Guinness barrels voyaging through the Irish countryside. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/26574522

12: The Normans 04/18/2023

12: The Normans This episode tells the tale of the Anglo-Norman invasion through the men who built the castles of at Athlone, the Rinndown peninsula, and McDermott’s Castle on Lough Key, as well as along the Barrow, featuring a cast of warrior-bishops, Flemish wool traders and Knights Templar who dominated the waterways. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/26574510

11: Turlough O’Connor, King of the Water 04/18/2023

11: Turlough O’Connor, King of the Water The extraordinary story of the O’Connor king who ruled Ireland for 35 years, during which time his extensive fleet took control of the Shannon and the Erne, built bridges and castles along the waters, and reshaped a large stretch of the Shannon region to build a new border against his enemies to the south and east. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/26574498

10: The 45 M 04/18/2023

10: The 45 M Susie Coote, owner of the 45M barge, tells the story of the boat that sank on Lough Derg in 1946 with the loss of 3 of their crew, and how it was raised in 1975 by the late Donnacha Kennedy and purchased by her late father David Coote. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/26574486

9: The Vikings 04/18/2023

9: The Vikings The golden age for Christianity in Ireland comes to an end as Vikings arrive on Irish shores and nudge their longships up the rivers to plunder the Irish interior. This episode charts the impact of the Vikings on the Shannon, the Erne, the Barrow and the Bann, with a focus on the warlord Turgesius, who ruled over Lough Ree, and the rise of High King Brian Boru. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/26574477

8: The Grand Canal Interview 02/06/2022

8: The Grand Canal Interview A potted history of the Grand Canal and the Barrow Navigation, as told by Alan Lindley, whose family have been on the locks at Rahan, County Offaly, since the canal was constructed in the 1790s. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/30132658

7: The Shannon Interview 02/06/2022

7: The Shannon Interview One of Ireland’s three lady lockkeepers discusses her unusual experiences on the Shannon, where she looks after the Albert Lock in County Roscommon, with some background on the area that she patrols and manages. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/30132663

6: The Barrow Interview 02/06/2022

6: The Barrow Interview The life of a lockkeeper on the Barrow Navigation as told by John O’Neill of Slyguff, County Carlow, who recalls the life of his late aunt Maggie Gorman, and how his father used to row across the river to work. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/30132668

5: Spiritual Waters (part II) 02/06/2022

5: Spiritual Waters (part II) Homing in on some of the 51 island monasteries on Ireland’s inland waterways, such as Lough Erne, Lough Key and Lough Ree, and telling the story of the hermits and anchorites who lived in such places. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/30132678

4: Spiritual Waters (part I) 02/06/2022

4: Spiritual Waters (part I) Tracking the early Christian settlement along the River Barrow, and the birth of the famous monastic schools along the Shannon and the Boyne at Clonmacnois, Clonfert and Clonard, as well as others on Lough Ree and Lough Derg. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/30132683

3: Of Glaciers and Crannógs 02/06/2022

3: Of Glaciers and Crannógs A look at the geological origins of Ireland’s rivers and lakes, and the land through which the canals were cut, as well as the archaeological legacy of the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age periods which gave rise to burial tombs, log-boats and crannogs along such waterways as the Shannon, the Barrow and the Erne. /episode/index/show/663ba4ab-c58d-44e5-8c73-d7d9d92c9d05/id/30132688

NEW Season 4

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