Corbally branch of canal a winter picture

Photos by Martin Sheridan.

The Corbally Branch of the Grand Canal is recognised as one of Kildare's hidden gems, though it's likely that very few of Kilcullen's residents of today are even aware it exists, writes Brian Byrne.

But Corbally Harbour is a terminal point of the waterway and just a few kilometres west of Silliot Hill. In the heyday of the canals it was an important distribution point for cargo of all kinds into the Kilcullen and Newbridge areas. Springs at Corbally are also among of the sources of water for the Grand Canal.

When the canals were revived as leisure amenities, the Corbally line (originally known as the Herbertstown Branch) couldn't become part of that because a culverting carried out in 1954 at the old Limerick Road in Naas makes it impassable for boats. However, the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland is campaigning to have the culverting reversed as the road involved is no longer the main route to Limerick and Cork.

The harbour itself is overgrown and has ruins of the old buildings, but is the point to start a good walk to near Naas, as Noel Clare reported in a recent piece in The Bridge.

And the photos above by Martin Sheridan from recent days show just how nice a place this particular local part of Ireland's canal system can be even in the depths of winter.

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