HE beautiful River Barrow is on its way towards challenging the Shannon as a major centre for river cruising visitors.
Barrowline Cruisers, owned by Charlie and Declan Timmons of Carlow, introduced their first 42-foot luxury barge cruiser last week and over the next two years plan to invest up to £1 million on 10 such specially commissioned barges, a new docking area and ancillary services.
The fleet being acquired by this new hire company will vastly increase access to the river and canal system of which the Barrow is a part. From Carlow, the visitor will be able to take a river cruiser down river as far as St Mullins, or up river to join the Grand Canal near Athy and travel across the midlands to the River Shannon. From there, the waterway traveller can go south to Portumna or north to Athlone, and even all the way to the Erne in Northern Ireland.
The attractions of the Barrow are not yet fully appreciated in Carlow, said Declan Timmons. "But our foreign visitors often compare it to the Rhine in Germany, and many would consider it far more beautiful than the Shannon. The brothers hope to have five cruisers operational next year, and the fleet of 10 in a couple of years.