MINUTES OF EVIDENCE.
273
TWENTY-FIFTH DAY, THUESDAY, 9th AUGUST, 1906, at 10 a.m.
At the Railway Hotel, Galway.
Present:—Sir Alexander Binnie (Chairman); S.
J.
Brown, Esq.;
JamEvS Dillon, Esq.;
and J.
H.
Ryan, Esq.
S.
W.
Strange, Esq.,
Secretary, in attendance.
Professor Edwabd Townsbnd,'c.e.,
examined.
5539.
The Chairman.—I
believe you are Professor of Civil Engineering in the Queen's College, G-alway?
—Yes.
5540.
You have lived here a great number of years ?
—Yes.
5541.
The subject of our inquiry, as you are aware, is as to what steps should 'be taken to facilitate arterial drainage.
Arterial drainage at the present day throughout Ireland is at a standstill.
The old Acts are more or less inapplicable.
The number of new proprietors created under the Land Purchase Acts is so large that the machinery has got altogether out of gear, and we are asked to inquire and report as to what steps we could advise should be taken, either by new legislation or the alteration of old legislation, to put the thing on its legs again.
That is the object of our inquiry, I suppose there is still in the neighbourhood of Galway further drainage work that could be done?—Yes.
Not very much in my district, with one exception, the Monivea river.
A certain portion of it was done, from the junction of the Turloughmore river.
It is a tributary of the Turloughmore.
It was carried on for a few miles and then they stopped and made a jump of six and three-quarter miles and carried out about two and a half miles m the upper portion.
That six and tlrree-quarter miles still remains to be done.
That is the part_marked X on the map (produced).
This is the Corrib river (indicates).
The Cbrriib drainage ex¬ tends as far as what is called Cregmore Bridge, about ten miles.
The Tuiloughmore drainage on the same Tiver, the River Clare, begins there (indicates), and goes up a short distance above Tuam at a place called Ballygarry Bridge.
There is a spur here on the Tur¬ loughmore district, it extends to a place called Ballawn.
Monivea begins there (indicates), and is carried up to that point.
This is called the Abbert river, but it is called the Monivea drainage.
There is the part that was skipped (indicates) from Annaghdown to Klllachogher Bridge—that is six miles.
The whole of this Monivea drainage was never completed.
They left out about six and three-quarter miles in the middle of^ it.
I suppose they ran short of money or something of that sort.
That was never touched.
There is land there which would be greatly improved if this cut was improved and sunk.
Then there is a little bit up from that again (indicates) up to a bridge there and a weir, and it would be a great advantage if that little bit to that gap were done.
5542.
The weir is only called mill on the map ?—
Yes.
It is an old mill.
It is not worked now.
5543.
With the exception of this particular six and three-quarter miles you don't think there is much more to be done in this particular district ?—I
don't think there is.
There are a good many districts al¬ ready, I have six districts under my charge.
5544.
Those drainage districts which are under 7°]w charge—^le 'wor^s ®*& maintained at present?
—With the exception of one.
That is the Lavally, en the south-side of the bay near Oranmore.
It com¬ mences there (indicates).
This is the outlet.
It scarcely can be called a river.
It is more a main dram.
I think some of the proprietors have gone away, and others are living in Wicklow and other ?i!a<*ir
-f^011* fifteen years ago I was asked to put the district in order.
They got a 'small loan from ttie Board of Works for the purpose and I cleared the S^cd^Tlct' 'Du'fc &i31°ef then nothing has been done.
th^i a
** ^one ,back into a ba<* state ?~*
don't mvnk they suffer very much from floods.
It is a rather narrow drain.
It has a good fall.
5546.
It keeps itself pretty clear ?—It
keeps itself pretty clear, still it would require to he cleared every two or three years, at all events.
5547.
Mr.
Dillon.—How
many acres, roughly, would be improved, and can be improved, if it was kept in order, requiring the outfall to be kept up ?-*-
The outfall ds good enough, but it is a very narrow drain, and in some places it is only five or six feet, and there is very little boggy land on it.
It is principally clayey land.
5548.
Are there 500 acres that would be injured if the drain were neglected?—Probably
there are, I should think.
5549.
Mr.
Bb,own.—Is
there any field drainage in¬ juriously affected by the water being kept up there ?—
I think it is nearly all grazing land, and.
there is very little tillage.
5550.
The 'Chaibman.—With
the exception of the Lavally drainage the others are maintained?—The
others are maintained.
5551.
Has the increased advantage gained by the drainage sustained fully the estimate of increased value?—I
think so.
I think all the districts done have been very well laid out.
5552.
And they have been successful in fact?—I
think so.
Certainly there is one particular branch of the Lough Corrib drainage called the Cregg river, that is the dirtiest; river in Ireland.
You have no idea how the Aveeds grow.
It is a sluggish riArer, with scarcely any fall.
5553.
Mr.
Dillon.—It
is shallow?—No,
it is very-deep, consisting principally of bog holes, and though I clean that twice every year the weeds grow up so imuch in three months that you could almost walk across it.
5554.
The Chairman.—Those
are the two drain¬ ages that we saw yesterday from the lake ?—Yes.
5555.
And from this point on the lough shore to Cregmore Bridge it is practically a deposit, a delta deposit?—It
is a big river.
5556.
A big river through a perfectly flat plain, which flat plain itself is 'but slightly raised above the level of the lake ?—Of
course the level of that drainage is practically the same as the level of the lake for some miles.
5557.
The surrounding land is very little above the level of the lake?—Part
of the land is high enough, what they call high bogs.
5558.
Between the two drainages ?—Yes.
In fact some of the main bog has never been cut.
Part of it is high, and there is a fair fall into the river.
Other parts are swamps that were never tilled.
They ge& some grazing off tliem in the summer (months, but they are totally unfit for tillage of any kind.
The tenants round there get a fair amount of grazing in the summer.
Sometimes they are tempted to try crops on the chance of having a good dry summer, 'but if the summer is wet they lose them.
They have got what they call upland for potatoes; but the land¬ lord, Lord Clanmorris, has made an agreement to take up a lot of good land in the vicinity and parcel it-out among these men living at this place, Montiagh.
5559.
These lands you speak of at the lower end of Lough Oorrib are not subject to any great amount of flooding from the lake, are they ?—No.
They are low-lying lands most of them.
They are practically on the same level as the lake, When the water rises in the lake it hacks up, 5560.
But I think you told me yesterday that the fluctuations of the lake are only about 2.2
feet between summer and winter, so that the amount Of flooding
2N
Aug.
9,ltfOS.
Professor Edward Townsend, a*.
