GRAND CANAL. Sectional Map of the Proposed Canal from Ballycommon, near Tullamore to Kilbeggan laid out by John Killaly, Civil Engineer, 1829.

NOTE: It is supposed by the engineer that the excavation for the entire extent of the proposed Canal will be thro’ Clay and Gravel except where otherwise described on this Section, it will however be incumbent on those persons who may be desirous of undertaking the execution of the Works to satisfy themselves as to the nature of the Soil thro’ which the line is to pass, previous to sending in their proposals. Scale: length 20 Irish Perches to an Inch; height 20 Feet to an Inch. P.B. denotes a Public road Bridge; A.B. an Accomodation Bridge. 238.5cms x 11cms. Long thin folded and in very good condition. Extremely rare.

No copy located on JISC. Not in NLI or TCD.
John Killaly was undoubtedly the most influential Irish born engineer to work on Ireland’s canals. His 66-year long life neatly encompassed the Golden Age of the canal and his magic touch as a designer or supervisor can be found on every inland waterway in Ireland. Born into a Protestant family, his solid school education set him up for gainful employment as an assistant engineer with the Grand Canal Company in 1791. Over the next 16 years, he rose to become their foremost engineer, earning an annual salary equivalent to €150,000 today. He was subsequently appointed Chief Engineer to the Director General of Inland Navigation. Riding out on horseback with compass, level and chain, he surveyed the land through which many future canals were cut, including the Shannon Navigation between Athlone and Killaloe, and the 22-mile extension that brought the Grand Canal to meet the River Shannon at Shannon Harbour. He designed numerous locks and bridges, as well as the imposing aqueduct that carries the Grand Canal over the River Barrow at Monasterevin. By 1822, John Killaly had 21,427 men and 4,889 horses working under him, primarily building new roads and bridges, or repairing existing ones.
In 1799, he married Alicia Hamilton, the daughter of one of the leading millers in the Irish midlands. They settled in Tullamore where they raised four sons and three daughters. Their eldest son became a prominent engineer in Canada, overseeing the completion of the Welland Canal, which links the Great Lakes of Erie and Ontario.
A rare and highly informative working engineering section map relating to the Ballycommon - Kilbeggan Branch of the Grand Canal, designed under the direction of John Killaly, one of the most significant figures in Irish canal and railway engineering. The Kilbeggan branch, extending from the main line at Ballycommon to Kilbeggan, Co. Westmeath, was constructed between 1833 and 1834 and officially opened on 27 October 1834, playing a crucial role in the commercial and agricultural development of the midlands. Sectional drawings of this scale and detail were produced in very limited numbers for planning, tendering, and parliamentary purposes and seldom survive. The present example provides exceptional insight into early nineteenth-century Irish civil-engineering practice, land surveying, and canal construction methodology, and represents an important artefact of Ireland’s industrial and infrastructural history.