Travelling to Kilkee - ‘a wild and remote Spot- a little watering place on the South West Coast of Ireland.’

 In a letter written from Kilkee to Catherine Wooler dated 18th July 1854, Charlotte said she spent a week with Arthur’s family at Cuba Court, Banagher, before finally setting off with her husband on the next leg of their honeymoon. Unbeknown to anyone, this would be her first and last visit to her relatives in Banagher. The couple were going to the coast - just the two of them. They would be alone together for the first time since Wales.

Their destination was Kilkee in County Clare on the Wild Atlantic Coast. 

                                        Kilkee on the west coast of Ireland in County Clare.

                                    

This is the route Charlotte and Arthur would have taken to get to Kilkee from Banagher. They would have sailed down the Shannon for most of the journey except for three road sections:-

1.The short horse-drawn road journey from the Bell’s home at Cuba Court to Banagher marina to board the steamer. (about 15 minutes)

 2. A horse-drawn connection of about 12 miles (19 kms) taking around 2 hours between the steamer at Killaloe  (pronounced Killaloo) and the steamer at Limerick.

 3.A coach and four horses or a jaunting car from Kilrush to their hotel in Kilkee of about 7 miles (11kms) taking about 1 hour.

Their route can be see in the above advertisement from ‘The Tourist’s Illustrated Hand-Book for Ireland’ published in 1854. Click on the photo to enlarge. Note the content of the Athlone to Killaloe section which explains to tourists and general passengers the route they would be taking. Charlotte and Arthur would have boarded the steamer at Banagher and alighted at Killaloe. 

Map showing the steamer route from Banagher to Killaloe

             

Their steamer journey to Kilalloe would have taken approximately 4 hours starting at Banagher then sailing on to Portumna where the Shannon opens into Lough (lake) Derg. It continued along the lake to Williamstown or Dromineer then finally on to Killaloe.  

                             

Aerial view of Lough Derg. Charlotte's and Arthur's steamer sailed on Lough Derg - imagine the tranquility as they sailed along enjoying the views.

The journey along the River Shannon and Lough Derg would have been beautiful and more relaxing than travelling by road or rail. The River Shannon - Abhainn na Sionainne in Gaelic - is Ireland's longest river, named for the Celtic goddess Sionna.  On our trip, we only managed to drive alongside the lake, rewarded with glimpses of it's beauty and popularity with both holidaymakers and locals alike, all out enjoying the lake in the August heatwave of 2022.

 From Killaloe they would have taken a horse-drawn coach that conveyed passengers by road from Killaloe to Limerick. (2 hours). The Shannon does flow from Killaloe to Limerick but it had a series of rapids and  also a fall of  97 feet from Killaloe to Limerick, so the connecting journey was made by road in 1854.

 At Limerick docks they would have boarded the next steamer at the one of several quays. One is called Charlotte's Quay, named after Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales (1796-1817) who died in childbirth and another is Arthur's Quay built in 1773 by the wealthy merchant Arthur family. Their steamer would have sailed past King John’s Castle in Limerick built in c 1210, then along the Shannon estuary calling in at Tarbert before crossing to Kilrush (another 4 hour journey). From Kilrush a coach with four horses or a jaunting car would have taken passengers to Kilkee.(approximately 1 hour) (a minimum of 11 hours in total). Charlotte and Arthur would have had a very long day.

                                                 View of the Limerick Quays about 1878

                    George's Quay, Charlotte's Quay and New Bridge, Limerick c.1820 by S.F. Brocas.

                                               St John's Castle Limerick on the River Shannon.

An advert for the steam packets from Limerick to Kilrush dated 1840

There were several paddle steamers operating between Limerick and Kilrush: one was called the Garryowen, another was the Kingstown -she went out of service in 1845 and was replaced by The Erin-go-Bragh (run by the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company). A rival company ran the Dover Castle Steamer.

This route would have meant that the vast majority of their journey from Banagher in present day County Offaly to Kilkee in County Clare would have been by boat along the River Shannon. Having experienced the pleasure of cruising along the Shannon for myself  I can understand why this method of transport would have been the favourite of our honeymooners. 

In a letter written on 10 August 1854 by Arthur to Revd George Sowden, the brother of his good friend Sutcliffe Sowden who had officiated at his marriage to Charlotte, Arthur apologised to George for the tardiness in replying to his letter of congratulation on the occasion of his marriage and explained that,

 "We had a delightful tour over nearly the same ground that you and your brother travelled - only we took the Shannon in our progress to Limerick: we also diverged to Kilkee..."

Here are some photographs and a drawing of steamers on the Shannon from around the time Charlotte and Arthur were travelling there taken from Ruth Delaney’s book about the Shannon Navigation.

                                                        

                                      

              The Paddle Steamer Shannon above operated on the Shannon Estuary to and from Limerick.

                                     

                                   

The drawing above is by William Stokes in 1842 of a steamer at Killaloe with trade boats alongside at the Pierhead.

Here is an excellent You Tube video from the Foynes Maritime Museum showing Shannon steamers.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5qsInS4myvs&feature=youtu.be

So for Charlotte and Arthur it would have been a long journey and a long day but one they could have done in a day thanks to the fact that many hours of it would have been spent calmly sailing along the Shannon.

My Bronte travelling companion and I also had to head off to Kilkee from Banagher but our trip, although much shorter time-wise, was not as relaxing as Charlotte's and Arthur's would have been as most of our journey was done by car with just a short Shannon car ferry trip from Tarbert to Killimer (pronounced Kill-aye-mer), which is just east of Kilrush, taking us into County Clare.

On our road route we drove from Banagher to Limerick calling in at Killaloe on the way to see where Charlotte's and Arthur's Paddle Steamer docked before they transferred to a horse and coach which drove them to the next paddle steamer at Limerick. Limerick is located at the head of the Shannon Estuary where the river widens before it flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

                                                                                  Kilalloe

Kilalloe.

    Our road route took us from Limerick along by the Shannon Estuary, passing through Foynes, Glin and finally arriving at Tarbert - just as Charlotte's and Arthur's steamer had done. 

At Tarbert we boarded a Shannon Ferry run by https://www.shannonferries.com/about-us

                                        

Queuing for the Shannon Ferry at Tarbert aiming for Killimer. Charlotte and Arthur docked at Kilrush just west of Killimer.

                                                     

                                                                   Our Shannon car ferry.

                                     

                         

                                   A Shannon car ferry from Tarbert in Kerry to Killimer in Clare.

The Shannon Estuary from Killimer in the evening sunshine, August 2022.

We had now arrived in County Clare. Charlotte and Arthur may have taken a Bianconi coach and four horses from nearby Kilrush to Kilkee - their final destination that day- a 7 mile (11 km) journey. Alternatively they may have travelled in a jaunting car as there were several companies in Kilkee that transported the growing numbers of tourists attracted to the area. 

Bianconi car and 4 horses. Passengers sat on the side. 

A cover was put over the passengers' legs to protect them from the rain and mud/puddles on the road.

We, however, drove from Killimer to Kilrush and then on to Knockerra which is about 20 minutes east of Kilkee. If we hadn't stopped en route our journey from Banagher to Tarbert would have taken 1 hour and 50 minutes. The ferry journey a further 20 minutes. Had we then gone directly to Kilkee the journey would have added another 20 minutes. In total our journey would have been 2 hours and 30 minutes...not the 11+ hours of Charlotte's and Arthur's. However, we stopped for a short while at Killaloe after queuing for ages to cross the single track bridge and admired Lough Derg. We then enjoyed a very pleasant and leisurely drive by the Shannon estuary beyond Limerick. Unfortunately, a main road through Limerick city centre was being dug up and renovated. We were crawling bumper to bumper through the city centre and decided to give up on seeing the quays and St John's castle. The view of the uncongested road running by the wide twinkling Shannon estuary was too a great a lure. County Clare was calling. We didn't want to be in a congested city but in the countryside with the prospect the next day of a visit to Kilkee on the wild Atlantic coast a place that Charlotte fell in love with. As she wrote in a letter to Catherine Winkworth 27 July 1854,

  "...such a wild iron-bound coast - with such an ocean view as I had not yet seen - and such battling of waves with rocks as I had never imagined".

We too were hoping to be as equally impressed with Kilkee as Charlotte and Arthur had been.

 We were not to be disappointed.