Humans have used ferries to cross rivers for thousands of years.
We understand that two types of rope and chain/cable-guided ferries operated in Ireland, the human powered Bannfoot ferry in County Down and the various chain and cable ferries used to cross over to Little Island in Waterford.
Ferry technology and safety dramatically improved when the Egyptians mastered rope making techniques around 2500 BC. The ropes were strung across rivers and the ferries pulled along them. Then came propulsion by steam and internal combustion engines and ropes became chains and then quieter cables.
In modern times, chain and cable ferries have been put to best use when located on fast flowing rivers and tidal waters. Chain and cable ferries when used in these settings are seen as being safer and more economical than ferries relying on engine power alone as the chain/ cable takes the majority of the strain caused by the current pushing the vessel downstream and guides the ferry to its slipway.
Powered chain/ cable ferries employ wheels or drums amidships on the vessel to propel themselves forward by pulling along the cables. Guided chain/ cable ferries propel themselves with in-board engines and use the cables to prevent them from drifting off course in strong currents. By adjusting the tension of the chains or wire ropes, the cables can sink below the water’s surface as it moves away, preventing any entanglements or obstruction to other passing vessels.
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Across the world today there are several hundred cable powered and guided ferries in operation from the Ekusileni Ferry in Zimbabwe, to the Vaxholm Castle ferry in the Stockholm Archipelago. Chain ferries are also particularly popular in the wide and fast flowing rivers of the USA.
We understand that two types of chain/ cable-guided ferry operated in Ireland, the human powered Bannfoot ferry in County Down and the various chain and cable ferries used to cross over to Little Island in Waterford.
On a warm summer evening in 1978, when this author was nine-years old, my aunt Anne and uncle Bobby brought me to Bannfoot, County Down where the Upper Bann River flows into Lough Neagh, the largest freshwater lake in Ireland.
What was most memorable for me about that evening was the Bannfoot man-powered ferry conveying people and cars across the River Bann.
In operation since at least 1760, the ferry was operated for most of the 20th century by the Wilson family. From my research for this story, I was later to discover that the stooped and powerfully built man who pulled ourselves and our car along the thick rope across the river that evening was 87-year old Willie Wilson who had spent all his life pulling his ferry across the river. He would retire in 1979 and despite numerous proposals, no bridge has been constructed at the Bannfoot, leaving it as the only river along the Lough Neagh shoreline without a dedicated crossing.
As we understand there is just one cable guided operated ferry operating in Ireland today, located at Little Island, Waterford, one kilometre downriver from Waterford city in south-east Ireland.
The 420-acre Little Island is encircled by the River Suir and has been inhabited since at least the sixth century when a Monastic settlement was established. Then came the Vikings between the 9th and 11th centuries and then the Normans.
The FitzGerald Family, cousins of Strongbow, were granted the island for their involvement in the Norman invasion of 1170. Today the Waterford Castle Hotel & Golf Resort is located on Little Island.
Up to circa 1900, Kings Channel provided access for commercial shipping to access Waterford City Quays. With the widening and straightening of Queen’s Channel on the northern side of the island, commercial traffic was rerouted there.
Currently the majority of modern vessels dock downstream from Waterford City at the Belview terminal on the County Kilkenny side of the Suir River.
Within living memory, access to Little Island from Grantstown or the slipway at Ballinakill on the mainland was by a unique Waterford estuary rowing boat known as a “Prong.” This distinctive vessel will be featured in an upcoming episode on Ireland Made. Later crops and produce were transported upstream to Waterford City, on an old powered Gabbard barge, possibly the 71M. Eventually, this barge was replaced by an American WW2 DUKW amphibious truck capable of carrying two tons. Subsequently, a WW II Landing Craft was employed to transport larger vehicles.
From 1958 chain guided ferries where placed into operation to serve the island. We understand that the very first custom-built chain ferry to Little Island was the MF Strongbow built at the Verolme Dockyard in Cork launched in 1968 and in service from 1969.
Over the years other chain ferries operated the route including the ‘Little Island Ferry’, a Scandinavian built 6-car carrying 24 passenger vessel and ‘Elvera’ a former Swedish lake-ferry. In 2008, the 110-tonne former River Rhine ferry, MF Loreley V was introduced. Unlike previous chain-ferries, this vessel employed a quieter cable wire system to navigate its way across the river. Built in Germany in 1959 she had an 18-car capacity and could carry 57 passengers Loreley V was taken out of service in August 2014.
The current ferry operating at Little Island is named the “Mary Fitzgerald” in honour of Mary Frances Fitzgerald (1775-1855), an influential figure who held great sway in the social circles of Ireland during her time.
Despite being once engaged to the renowned Duke of Wellington, famously known as “The Iron Duke” for his victory over Napoleon at Waterloo and subsequent tenure as a British Prime Minister, Mary Fitzgerald made the decision to end their engagement and instead married her first cousin John Purcell, in 1801.
The ferry service aboard the Mary Fitzgerald guided by cables between the slipways on either side of King’s Channel takes just three-minutes to cross to Little Island against the current, sometimes as powerful as 8-knots. The Little Island ferry is a privately-run free service open 24/7 , operating every 15 minutes and on demand via telephone between midnight and 7:00 am.
Check out our video from the nearby River Barrow, County Wexford the ‘Refurbishment of Barrow Princess | Season 1 – Episode 56’ https://fb.watch/kB-dWmEEnw/
Information sources:
AFLOAT – Jehan Ashmore
BC Ferries
Emile’s Trains
Chris J Wood
Craigavon Historical Society
Doc Brown’s Science Website
eOceanic
Heritage Boat Association
JP Rothery
Living in the past – ferry
Marinas.com
Michael Harpur
Military Trader Vehicles – David Doyle
New Ross Boatyard
Northern Ireland Screen – Digital Film Archive
RMC Media Partnership
The Bannfoot Ferry – Ken Austin
Waterford Castle Resort
Waterford Harbour Tides & Tales
