Kilbeggan whiskey travels again by canal

Two specially selected nine-year-old single malt whiskey casks were moved by canal from Locke's Distillery in Kilbeggan to the Grand Canal at Ballycommon in Offaly on Saturday last in an historic ceremony. The event was organised to mark the 50th anniversary of the Grand Canal's closure to commercial traffic in 1959, to celebrate the achievements of the boatmen who worked the commercial boats and to promote the restoration of the Kilbeggan canal line. The event was organised by Cooley Distillery, Offaly Inland Waterways Association of Ireland (IWAI), Heritage Boat Association HBA), 107B Barge Project, Kilbeggan Harbour Amenity Group and the Irish Whiskey Society (IWS). The whiskey was expertly selected by seven members of the Irish Whiskey Society in May this year. The whiskey will be bottled as Locke's "Grand Crew" Irish Whiskey. It is a single cask, single malt whiskey. It is being bottled at cask strength as this is the strength at which whiskey was typically shipped in cask by canal.  The project involved the transportation of the casks from Locke's distillery in Kilbeggan, to Kilbeggan Harbour via a vintage Leyland truck belonging to local man Joe Cleary escorted by outriders on some of Joe Clancy's vintage bicycles . It was then transferred to a vintage replica cart belonging to Jim Murray who lives on the Kilbeggan line and was pulled by his Clydesdale horse called Ned who moved along the Dry Kilbeggan Line of the Grand Canal to Ballycommon. Ned was followed by walkers from the various organisations and members of the public and the cargo was protected by some of Jims neighbours and friends on horseback including, Carina O'Donovan, Francis Dowling, Rebecca and Francesca Corr and Claire Bigot. Another neighbour John Monahan joined the group on part of the journey with a pony and trap. At Ballycommon the Kilbeggan Line links with the Grand Canal, here the casks were transferred to the heritage 107B project barge which was moored on the Grand Canal. The 107B will transport the casks in association with the Heritage Boat Association and veterans of the commercial canal era, who will escort it to Dublin. When the casks were loaded all involved were treated to an advance tasting of the fine Grand Crew whiskey. The great day was rounded off with a barbeque on the banks of the Grand Canal. All involved on the day remarked on the potential of the Kilbegan Line and the shame that it has been allowed to deteriorate so much, the campaign to have it reinstated to a navigable waterway continues. Work began on a canal in 1830 to link Kilbeggan with Ballycommon on the Grand Canal 5 miles east of Tullamore.  The Kilbeggan Line is 8.2 miles (13.2km) long and has no locks. The canal was formally opened in January 1835 although this was a bit premature.  It was only in 1836 that commercial traffic commenced.  Among the principal users of the Grand Canal were whiskey distilleries. Boats brought in malted and unmalted grain, coal to fire the stills and oak to make casks.The Kilbeggan line fell into disuse in the late 1940s.As early as 1970, the IWAI were negotiating with the Government and CIE to restore the Kilbeggan Line to use, going as far as seeking a transfer to its care. With increasing competition from the road and rail network, CIE announced the closure of the Grand Canal to commercial traffic in December 1959. 2009 marks the 50th anniversary. However, contrary to the expectations of 50 years ago, the Grand Canal did not die, primarily due to groups like the IWAI and the individuals who continued to use the canal for leisure purposes and who campaigned to keep it in navigable condition