Boat Registration
Boats must be registered with the Inspector of Navigation in Athlone or the Lough Erne Warden's Office in Enniskillen. A mutual recognition scheme operates on the Shannon and the Erne systems, including the Shannon-Erne Waterway

Length & Locks
63km from Leitrim Village to Upper Lough Erne with 16 locks

Opening Hours of Locks
09.00 to 20.00 daily

Navigational Criteria
Length 24m
Beam 4.5m
Draft 1.2m
Air draft 3.2m over a width of 3.0m

Contact Waterways Ireland before cruising between 1st November and 31st March

Speed Limit
5km/h in channel stretches

Waterway Patrollers
Waterway Patrollers are present along the Shannon-Erne Waterway to assist boat users.

Locks
The 16 locks on the Shannon-Erne Waterway are operated by smart card. The card is inserted into the console at the side of the lock; diagrammatic instructions are given for the operation of the lock. Please ensure the safety of all your passengers when the boat is in the lock.

Service Blocks
Service blocks are provided by Waterways Ireland at six locations along the Shannon-Erne Waterway: Leitrim village, Keshcarrigan, Ballinamore, Haughton's Shore, Ballyconnell and Aghalane. Facilities provided for waterway users include toilets, showers, pump-outs and laundry facilities. The facilities are operated by smart cards.

Pump-outs
Pump-outs are provided at each of the service blocks to enable the pumping out of sewage safely and cleanly removing the pollution risk to our waterways. These are operated by smart cards.

Slipways
A total of 7 slipways are provided along the Waterway at each of the serviced public moorings and at Lock 7

Smart Cards
Smart cards are used to operate the locks: to access the service blocks and to use the pump-outs along the Waterway. These can be purchased from the Waterway Patrollers and from local outlets as well as from the Waterways Ireland offices. Each Lock Passage uses 1 unit, Shower, 2 units, Pump-outs 10 units, Chemical toilets 2 units, Washing machines 5 units, and Tumble dryers 5 units. At the time of publication a 10 unit card costs €6.35, 20 unit card €12.70 and a 40 unit card €22.80.

Smart Cards can be bought at the following locations:

• Athlone Waterways Ireland, The Docks,
• Ballinamore Locaboat, Supervalue, Smith's Gift Shop, Riversdale Barges
• Ballinasloe Pollboy Lock, Cosmo's Shop and Declan Egan's Pub
• Ballyconnell Bannon's Shop, Vivo Supermarket
• Ballyleague Harrison's Shop
• Belturbet Emerald Star
• Boyle Mc Donagh's Newsagents
• Carrick-on-Shannon Waterways Ireland, Old Dublin Rd., Carrick Craft and Emerald Star
• Dromineer Dromineer Bay Hotel
• Dromod J.J. O' Connor (Mace Shop)
• Enniskillen Tourist Information Centre
• Keshcarrigan Bohan's Shop
• Kilclare Kilclare Post Office, Padraig Lynch's Shop (Kilclare)
• Knockninny Carrick Craft
• Leitrim Village Leitrim Post Office, Mace Shop
• Lock 1 Waterway Patroller
• Lock 16 Waterway Patroller
• Newtowngore Newtowngore Post Office
• Portumna Waterways Ireland, Connaught Harbour

The Waterway Patrollers on the Shannon-Erne Waterway sell smart cards. They can be contacted at

• Kilclare area Tel no +353 87 2603663
• Lock 16 Tel no +353 87 2608569
• Ballinamore Tel no +353 87 2602478
• Ballyconnell Tel no +353 87 2603662
• Lock 1 Tel no +44 28 6774 8976

Fuel Points
There are petrol stations in Leitrim village, Ballinamore and Ballyconnell - all are a short walk from the public moorings.

Note:
Maintenance works on the system are, whenever possible, carried out during the winter. It is therefore advisable during the winter months to contact Waterways Ireland before making your journey to confirm that the section of waterway that you wish to navigate is open.

Waterways Ireland Contacts

Waterways Ireland

info@waterwaysireland.org