Limerick & Foynes
Mick Kennelly
August 11, 2023
HM 238. Limerick and The Shannon Foynes Port Company
The estuary of the River Shannon is large, powerful and impressive. That is not surprising when you learn it is the longest river in the British Isles beating the Severn (220 miles) and Thames (215 miles) at 240 miles. The statutory harbour extends to 200 square miles. I didn't actually sail all the way to Limerick, not only is it 45 miles inland but there is nowhere to moor up when you get there!
Instead I met the HM, Captain Mick Kennelly at Foynes, the largest of the six industrial ports on the Shannon that he oversees. Mick's career started in the Irish Navy and he commanded one of the six Patrol Vessels which makes up the fleet. Since he left in 2012 and became HM at Foynes, the Navy has struggled to recruit personnel and at the time of writing only two Navy vessels are operational.
Mick described to me how dangerous and exposed the Shannon can be for yachts, especially on the fast ebb when the outflowing river meets a nearly continuous onshore wind creating dangerous overfalls. The ships visiting his ports are generally large bulk carriers, many serving the bauxite refining plant which dominates this area with its red slag heaps and white powdered Alumina being loaded back into ships for export. Other exports include frozen beef, sugar and fish, underlining the strong agricultural economy of Ireland.
Mick temporarily left "harbourmastering" in 2020 to become an air traffic controller, but he missed the sea and returned to Foynes three years later. I think he likes the challenges. Recently he had to unload one of his trickiest cargos - a harbour crane weighing 60,000 tons! Thank you Mick and team for short sharp but interesting visit to Foynes.
Next door, was a museum where we learnt the extraordinary story of the first Flying Boats which from 1937 used the River Shannon at Foynes at their stepping off point on regular 3,300 mile journeys across the Atlantic. By 1945 landplanes had superseded these magnificent but lumbering seaplanes being faster and somewhat safer.
The estuary of the River Shannon is large, powerful and impressive. That is not surprising when you learn it is the longest river in the British Isles beating the Severn (220 miles) and Thames (215 miles) at 240 miles. The statutory harbour extends to 200 square miles. I didn't actually sail all the way to Limerick, not only is it 45 miles inland but there is nowhere to moor up when you get there!
Instead I met the HM, Captain Mick Kennelly at Foynes, the largest of the six industrial ports on the Shannon that he oversees. Mick's career started in the Irish Navy and he commanded one of the six Patrol Vessels which makes up the fleet. Since he left in 2012 and became HM at Foynes, the Navy has struggled to recruit personnel and at the time of writing only two Navy vessels are operational.
Mick described to me how dangerous and exposed the Shannon can be for yachts, especially on the fast ebb when the outflowing river meets a nearly continuous onshore wind creating dangerous overfalls. The ships visiting his ports are generally large bulk carriers, many serving the bauxite refining plant which dominates this area with its red slag heaps and white powdered Alumina being loaded back into ships for export. Other exports include frozen beef, sugar and fish, underlining the strong agricultural economy of Ireland.
Mick temporarily left "harbourmastering" in 2020 to become an air traffic controller, but he missed the sea and returned to Foynes three years later. I think he likes the challenges. Recently he had to unload one of his trickiest cargos - a harbour crane weighing 60,000 tons! Thank you Mick and team for short sharp but interesting visit to Foynes.
Next door, was a museum where we learnt the extraordinary story of the first Flying Boats which from 1937 used the River Shannon at Foynes at their stepping off point on regular 3,300 mile journeys across the Atlantic. By 1945 landplanes had superseded these magnificent but lumbering seaplanes being faster and somewhat safer.