Cliona O'Brien lived on a houseboat on the Grand Canal for nearly two years with her two children, Linus, 13, and Betty, 3, and her partner, Stephen. "It is a simple life and the basics become more important living on the canals," she says.
Moored in Belmont, Co Offaly, next to the 33rd lock, they lived on their 35 ft by 10 ft specially built houseboat while they renovated a 19th-century limestone grain-store nearby. For the family it was a great experience, she says, surrounded by natural wildlife that exists along the "beautifully kept canal corridor" which runs from Dublin to the Shannon.
When Betty was upset," says Cliona," I would just turn the key of the engine and go somewhere while the soft sound of the engine and gentle rocking of the barge soothed her back to tranquillity; I also find the almost imperceptible gentle rocking of the houseboat therapeutic, whether moored at the canal bank or moving along at 4 mph. Their houseboat comes with everything you would expect in a small modern house or apartment. At the bow is the main bedroom, a compact double room with Betty's baby shelf conveniently located on the other side of the narrow corridor that leads to the bathroom and other rooms on the barge. The bathroom is small but has hot and cold running water for the shower and sink, and a lavatory. Next to this is the bedroom with bunk-beds. "When Linus went off to boarding school his friends and the teachers were naturally intrigued to hear he lived on a boat," says Cliona. As a result, a class trip was organised to visit his home.
Before he went to boarding school though, Linus did his homework in the galley which consists of a fully equipped kitchen (gas cooker or stove, fridge and sink) and dining area. The interiors are decked out in wood panels throughout and, on both sides, windows peer out on to calm waters and the busy natural environment of the canal banks. In Ireland it's a necessity, to have a solid fuel fire in the barge. "Four briquettes is enough to keep the whole barge warm," says Cliona.
Life on a houseboat requires constant shifting of objects. When we finished homework we would start making dinner, then after dinner we would take out the computer. Everything is put back where it came from. Exactness is more of an issue on a houseboat than on land, she says. Finally, there is the wheel room at the stern, which is the sittingroom when moored. A room with panoramic views, it consisted of fitted seating and table, and a space for the television, "which was usually only pulled out with the Christmas tree", adds Cliona. Windy winter nights were spent telling the children tales like that of the "monster-pike" who made the noises as the houseboat pulled against its moorings in the storm, says Cliona.
Houseboats usually carry services, such as engine, water tanks, waste tanks and gas in the hull. There is plenty of lighting and sockets throughout the rooms which are powered by either the main engine batteries or ESB mains. At the top of the galley there is a wood and glass doorway leading out to an open air seating area for four on the bow. Sometimes people rope off the huge space of the steel roof (30 ft to 60 ft by, on average, 10 ft) of the barge and arrange potted plants and seating to make a relaxing garden area. For Cliona one of the most attractive things about living on the canals is the natural environment - hawks, minks, horses, swans, and wild orchids "which grow ten a penny along the canal banks". "You blend in with nature," she says, especially since your eye level on the houseboat is the same as the ground on the canal bank; There is always a bit of entertainment at the window, be it the kingfisher which used to rest on the boat's mooring ropes early in the morning, or the magpie which would peck at the window, admiring the silver cutlery in the galley, Cliona recalls.
Then there was Patrick the cat, about whom a neighbour used to frequently raise the alarm: "Missus, your cat is in the water!" Cliona explains that this occurred when the local toms used to chase her cat literally off the boat. On one occasion, a wren flew in early in the morning and its "little feet" could be felt on a half-sleeping Stephen's face. For Cliona, living on a houseboat on the canals is "slightly cheating", since you're not out in the middle of the ocean. "You're always close to land and there is no fear of tidal waves", she says. She looks forward to returning to the canals again; to feeding the fish with the unfinished scraps from breakfast on the aft deck in the morning or the unexpected surprise of wildlife at work or play on the canal bank.
