In collaboration with Galway City Museum, Corrib Beo invites you to the seventh talk in its Lunchtime Talks Series. Join guest speaker Dr. Noel Wilkins for a talk entitled Ashworth’s Salmon Pass at Cong.

The physical infrastructure of Connaught (its harbours, roads and bridges) was laid down in the early nineteenth century. Its waterways infra structure was commenced at the same time, but was never completed after the Great Famine, with structures like the Corrib-Mask navigation canal left unfinished. Thomas Ashworth, owner of the Galway fishery from 1852, decided to utilize part of the unfinished canal in order to enhance his fishery by constructing a ‘fish ladder’ and a ‘salmon pass’ at the site of the abandoned canal. He also laid down salmon eggs in Lough Mask. Ashworth’s innovative venture ceased with his death and was soon forgotten. Apart from Dr Wilkin’s 1980s study of the unique salmon pass innovation at Cong, its existence has rarely been acknowledged. A recent visit to the site indicates that it is now probably beyond recognition and lost forever. Sic transit! This talk describes the salmon venture and discusses it in the context of developments of the period, including the social environment in the 1850s.

Brief Bio of speaker:
Dr. Noel Wilkins is a retired Professor of Zoology at the University of Galway. He lives near Claregalway and has published many books in the areas of natural history and marine ecology, including:

The definitive biography “Alexander Nimmo, Master Engineer, 1783 – 1832, Public Works and Civil Surveys” (2009).
And “Humble Works for Humble People – A History of the Fishery Piers of County Galway and North Clare, 1800 – 1922” (2017).