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TRACKS AND TRAILS ***FINAL***

Tracks and Trails - Annalise Murphy and her mum Cathy Image Name: Tracks and Trails - Annalise Murphy and her mum Cathy Description: Tracks and Trails Episode 5 Royal Canal Annalise Murphy and her mum Cathy RTÉ One - Friday April 28th Copyright: RTÉ 2017
Tracks and Trails - Royal Canal Annalise Murphy and her mum Cathy Image Name: Tracks and Trails - Royal Canal Annalise Murphy and her mum Cathy Description: Tracks and Trails Episode 5 Royal Canal Annalise Murphy and her mum Cathy RTÉ One - Friday April 28th Copyright: RTÉ 2017

Episode 5

Presented by Annelise Murphy and her mother Cathy McAleavey

This episode of Tracks and Trails features the Royal Canal which is fondly known as the green and silver line and is presented by Dublin native Annalise Murphy who captured the hearts of Irish audiences during the 2016 Rio Olympics when she realised her dream in the Women’s Laser Radial sailing competition by winning a silver medal for Ireland.  Annalise will be accompanied on the walk by her mother, Cathy McAleavey who herself was an Olympian competing in the Seoul Olympics in 1988 also in sailing.    The Royal Canal started life in the 1880s as a major cargo and passenger corridor from Dublin to the River Shannon.  However with the onset of trains and roads it went into decline but since the 1990s it has been restored into an enchanting 145km inland waterway.  On this programme, mother and daughter team Cathy and Annalise will explore the first twelve locks of the Royal Canal.  They begin at Spencer Dock on the north bank of the River Liffey, and walk the urban route alongside Croke Park and Mountjoy prison and when they get to Cross Guns Bridge they will see that there is a space on the left hand side where canoe polo is played every Sunday.  The canal itself then winds its way through suburban north Dublin into a rural haven.  They will navigate the last stretch to the twelfth lock by boat.

The walk starts at the sea locks at Spencer Dock and they meet Waterways Ireland John Mckeown who has overseen the sympathetic restoration of the original Royal Canal.  After the first lock the canal heads west towards Croke Park stadium and the skyline of the GAA’s headquarters, presents a perfect birdseye view of the Royal Canal. The second lock is home to the memorial of a renowned character who served time in the local Mountjoy prison. His name was Brendan Behan and the canal historian Peter Clark has the story.   The walkers take a detour into Blessington Park which covers over the original link for the Royal Canal to the River Liffey and they meet a musician Marion McEvoy on their way.  So, at Broome Bridge the Royal Canal begins its transition from urban to rural Dublin.  It also marks an unlikely famous eureka moment.  The mathematician, Sir William Rowan Hamilton had a spark of inspiration while walking here and he carved a revolutionary new form of algebra into the stone bridge.  Scientists and historians form all over the world mark the moment on the annual Hamilton Walk.  This is a place that Annalise and her mother stop to admire and pause for a few moments.   So, at the end of their walk they re-join John McKeown at the eleventh Lock.  They’ve walked over ten locks today and they now experience the journey  through a double lock before completing their trip by boat.