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Newry Canal is a modern canal in County Down, Northern Ireland, listed under Historic Environment Division reference 8642. The waterway traverses terrain underlain by a felsic igneous intrusion of Late Silurian to Early Devonian age, formed during the Early Devonian period when volcanic activity shaped this part of Ulster. The bedrock's composition of felsic rocks—rich in silica and lighter minerals—reflects the region's complex geological history and would have presented particular engineering challenges to the canal's constructors.
The canal represents an important phase in Ireland's inland transport development, connecting Newry with the broader network of waterways. Its construction required substantial earth-moving works across the varied topography of the Newry and Mourne district. The underlying igneous geology shaped both the route taken and the engineering solutions employed, as builders had to cut through or work around the harder bedrock formations.
Today the Newry Canal remains a significant infrastructure monument, protected for its historical importance to transport and trade in the region. The waterway reflects the ambitions of the period to improve communications and commerce, and its survival demonstrates the lasting impact of eighteenth and nineteenth-century civil engineering on the Irish landscape.
Newry canal. newry canal - c.f. ihr 172 & arm 029 is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 8642. View the official record →
Newry Canal is a modern canal in County Down, Northern Ireland, listed under Historic Environment Division reference 8642.
Newry canal. newry canal - c.f. ihr 172 & arm 029 dates from the modern period, and is classified as a canal. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Newry canal. newry canal - c.f. ihr 172 & arm 029 is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Ni. The official designation reference is 8642.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Newry canal. newry canal - c.f. dow 046 (4.5 km), Graveyard & two c19th crosses (6.4 km), The danes cast, the danes cast (south). linear earthwork (6.5 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Newry canal. newry canal - c.f. ihr 172 & arm 029's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Newry canal. newry canal - c.f. ihr 172 & arm 029 stands on Unnamed Igneous Intrusion, Late Silurian To Early Devonian, bedrock that formed in the Early Devonian. The rock here is felsic-rock.