60 Years of Waterways Recorded in New Book

Last week at a ceremony at Athlone town library, a new book was launched which celebrates sixty years of the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland, including anecdotes about the involvement and achievement of Athlone members in the Association.
The association is sixty years old this year, and the first meeting in the Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin in 1954 elected Col. Harry Rice as their President.  Rice wrote ‘Thanks For the Memory’ - the seminal book on Lough Ree in the 1950s.
Siobhan Bigley, who was MC, introduced the current president, Carmel Meegan who told the gathering that today the IWAI boasts a membership of 3,500, who carry on the work of their predecessors.
“The commitment of each and every member of the Association has seen the achievement of many great feats and overcome many challenges which has ensured that boats can still enjoy free access on the inland waterways from Limerick to Belleek and further afield,” said the President.
After welcoming Athlone’s Deputy Mayor, Cllr. Aengus O’Rourke, and the large gathering, the President said the new book, ‘IWAI and the Waterways of Ireland’ by Brian Cassells, is a marvellous insight into the Association and a formal record of its sixty year history and is “a must have for anyone with an interest in Ireland's wonderful inland waterways.”
Peter Williams, from Tipperary, is a grandson of the late Col. Rice, and he told some interesting stories about his grandfather’s history.
“My grandfather was born in 1893 and went to school in Enniskillen, studied medicine in TCD, and was in the war until it ended on 11/11/1919,” said Peter.  “He went to India, got sick, and survived it all.”
He told that his grandfather’s wife’s family owned the Prince of Wales Hotel, and his sister was Gertrude Chapman, who was well known in Athlone.
“When he retired he spent many years charting the lake, and had a friendship with Sean McBride and many others and he wanted to bring tourists in, to make a contribution to the economy,” said Peter.  “He was a proud Irishman, and kept going through thick and thin, and was able to enjoy the fruit of his labours, and may the flame he lit be kept alive.”
The book was launched by RTE personality, Manchan Magan, who said while he had travelled to every corner of the world making programmes, he still had to discover much of the Irish waterways.
“We have ignored our inland waterways, but something glorious is happening now, because the Irish people are beginning to reconnect with our lands, because over the last few years, we haven’t had too much money to go abroad, so we have turned inland,” said Manchan.  “The Irish were immersed in lakes, mountains and hills, and we turned our back on that, but we are inspired to see what we have.  Every month we see new and tiny businesses coming up around this, and there is a ripple of a tide of a whole new era.”