NEW SEASON 4
Episodes
32: The Grand Canal Docks
21 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Turtle recounts the remarkable tale of the rise, fall and resurrection of the vital docks and locks that linked Dublin Port and the River Liffey to th...
27: The Ulster Canal
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Turtle interviews Brian Cassells about the creation of the Ulster Canal, including its 2024 renaissance in Clones.
31: Towpath Trails of Kildare
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Turtle talks with Kildare historian Liam Kenny about the impact of the canals and the River Barrow on the history and lore of county Kildare, which h...
30: The Phoenix
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
John and Sandra Lefroy talk with Turtle about the Phoenix, their beloved boat, which is moored at the foot of their garden in Killaloe.
29: Yachting on the Waterways
14 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Turtle talks with yachting historian Vincent Delany about the Shannon One Design - Ireland's iconic 18-foot clinker-built racing yachts - and explore...
28: Lough Erne
07 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Turtle talks with Michael Clarke, an admiral of the Lough Erne Yacht Club, about the lake's unique water culture, the legacy of yachting, the origina...
26: Mapping Waterways
07 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Turtle talks with Rob Goodbody, a prominent historian and conservation consultant, about how Ireland's waterways were surveyed and mapped in times pas...
25: War on the Waterways
07 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Turtle talks with Dr. Harman Murtagh, a former president of the Military History Society of Ireland, about the story of the historic settlement on the...
NEW Episode 8, Season 3, The Navvys
18 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Turtle is joined by Ultan Cowley who shares his insights into the daily lives, motivations and semi-mythological reputations of the Irish navvies who ...
NEW Episode 7, Season 3, The Royal Canal
11 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Started on the eve of the French Revolution, the Royal Canal is Ireland’s longest manmade waterway running for 145 km (90 miles) from Dublin to the ...
NEW Episode 6, Season 3: 30 Year Anniversary of the Shannon-Erne Waterway/
04 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It is now 30 yrs since the completion of the Shannon-Erne waterway, linking the Shannon and Erne river systems. It was a pioneering project in many wa...
NEW Episode 5, Season 3: Writers on the Erne
27 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Irish language novelist and historian Séamas Mac Annaidh discusses his childhood on the island of Enniskillen, as well as the monks who compiled the ...
NEW Episode 2, S3 Genesis
20 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Featuring cameos by James Joyce’s canal-building forbear and Black Tom Wentworth, we learn how the desire to drain and improve Ireland’s boglands ...
NEW Episode 4, S3, The Grand Canal
20 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Turtle charts the twists and turns of the long-running project to connect Dublin to the River Shannon.
NEW Episode 3, S3 THE 29th LOCK
18 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Patsy Cummins is the third generation of her family to work on the Grand Canal. Having been keeper of the 29th lock near Tullamore, she talks of the f...
NEW: Episode 1, S3: Paddling the Waterways’
30 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dive into this gorgeous interview with Gwen Wilkinson, who named her homemade boat ‘Minnot’ before setting out on her 400 km journey from the s...
Hidden Treasures of the Waterways
12 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Turtle talks with marine archaeologist, Dr Connie Kelleher, about the exciting revelations of underwater archaeology on Irish waterways from Neolithi...
Boating on the Barrow
12 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Boating guru Cliff Reid of www.boatrips.ie discusses the glorious historical, geographical and natural elements of the River Barrow, the second-longes...
The Maguires, Kings of Fermanagh
18 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Maguires, Kings of Fermanagh, were once among the most prominent dynasties in the north-west of Ireland. At their peak, their fleet of white sail ...
The Voyage from St. James’s Gate
18 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Turtle talks with historian, Cathy Scuffil about one of the most iconic aspects of the Canal Age – the sight of barges laden with Guinness barrels v...
The Normans
18 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This episode tells the tale of the Anglo-Norman invasion through the men who built the castles of at Athlone, the Rinndown peninsula, and McDermott’...
Turlough O’Connor, King of the Water
18 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The extraordinary story of the O’Connor king who ruled Ireland for 35 years, during which time his extensive fleet took control of the Shannon and t...
45 M
18 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Susie Coote, owner of the 45M barge, tells the story of the boat that sank on Lough Derg in 1946 with the loss of 3 of their crew, and how it was rais...
The Vikings
18 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The golden age for Christianity in Ireland comes to an end as Vikings arrive on Irish shores and nudge their longships up the rivers to plunder the Ir...
8: The Grand Canal Interview
06 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A potted history of the Grand Canal and the Barrow Navigation, as told by Alan Lindley, whose family have been on the locks at Rahan, County Offaly, s...
7: The Shannon Interview
06 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
One of Ireland’s three lady lockkeepers discusses her unusual experiences on the Shannon, where she looks after the Albert Lock in County Roscommon,...
6: The Barrow Interview
06 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The life of a lockkeeper on the Barrow Navigation as told by John O’Neill of Slyguff, County Carlow, who recalls the life of his late aunt Maggie Go...
5: Spiritual Waters pt 2
06 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Homing in on some of the 51 island monasteries on Ireland’s inland waterways, such as Lough Erne, Lough Key and Lough Ree, and telling the story of ...
4: Spiritual Waters pt 1
06 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tracking the early Christian settlement along the River Barrow, and the birth of the famous monastic schools along the Shannon and the Boyne at Clonma...
3: Of Glaciers and Crannógs
06 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A look at the geological origins of Ireland’s rivers and lakes, and the land through which the canals were cut, as well as the archaeological legacy...
2: Goddesses of the Water
06 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Nearly every Irish river and lough is named for a deity from the annals of Celtic mythology. Most are goddesses of the Tuatha de Danaan, while others ...
1: The Flow of Time.
06 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
An overview of what the series is about, including an introduction to the various rivers, lakes, and waterways, including the conception of the canal ...