Coalisland Canal (sometimes known as The Tyrone Navigation) is a canal in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland and is about four and a half miles long. Construction of the canal began in 1733, but progress was slow and it wasn't officially opened until 1787. The canal was built to reduce the cost of transporting coal from the Tyrone coalfields to Dublin. An extension "Dukart's Canal", linked the coalfields with Lough Neagh via the River Blackwater. It was then planned to take the coal through the Newry Canal to Newry for transportation to Dublin. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Channel (geography). ... Statistics Province: Ulster County Town: Omagh Area: 3,155 km² Population (est. ... Motto: (Latin) Who will separate us?[1] Anthem: UK: God Save the Queen Regional: (de facto) Londonderry Air Capital Belfast Largest city Belfast Official language(s) English (de facto), Irish, Ulster Scots3, Northern Ireland Sign Language, Irish Sign Language Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister of the... Events February 12 - British colonist James Oglethorpe founds Savannah, Georgia. ... Year 1787 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53. ... Lough Neagh Lough Neagh (pronounced ; Irish Loch nEathach ) in Northern Ireland is the largest lough, or body of freshwater by surface area, in the British Isles, with an area of 388 square kilometres. ... River Blackwater is a river in Northern Ireland which enters Lough Neagh west of Derrywarragh Island and is navigable from Maghery to Blackwatertown. ... The Newry Canal, located in Northern Ireland, was built to link the Tyrone coalfields (via Lough Neagh and the River Bann) to the Irish Sea at Carlingford Lough near Newry. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ...

Although a short canal, it rises about 250 feet through seven locks to Coalisland, where there was an extensive basin. Dukart's Canal ran from here to nearby collieries via a series of dry hurries. The dry hurries are the only example in Ireland of non railed inclined planes, which were designed to raise and lower boats quicker than a lock or series of locks might have done. An inclined plane is a slope with big rollers on which the boats could be pulled up and down. The boats going down the slope were connected by chains round pulleys to the boats to be hauled up. Dukart's system at Coalisland was ahead of its time and did not work. WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... An inclined plane is a plane surface set at an angle, other than a right angle, against a horizontal surface. ...

The canal failed to thrive in its early years and was nearly abandoned. Only the export of agricultural produce and the import of farm and mine equipment kept it open. In the 19th century serious repairs had to be carried out to save the canal, including dredging, rebuilding locks, establishing a proper lock-keeping system and creating proper towpaths. This transformed the old navigation into the Coalisland Canal and led to the development of Coalisland as an inland port. Trade on the canal did increase but to volumes expected. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In the 20th century traffic decreased due to competition from the railways and from motor transport. The last commercial operation was in 1946. In 1954 it was officially abandoned and relegated to the status of a drainage ditch. The basin was filled in. The Friends of the Coalisland Canal group was formed in the 1990s to raise awareness and to explore the potential benefits to the area of re-opening it. The group became a branch of the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland in May 2003. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Germans dancing on the Berlin Wall in late 1989, the symbol of the cold war divide falls down as the world unites in the 1990s. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The former Coalisland Canal has left a significant legacy in Coalisland, including the 5 storey former corn mill, sited in the disused canal basin and dominating the town.

References

• Coalisland Canal
• BBC Your Place and Mine
• BBC Schools - Canals
• Dungannon & South Tyrone Area Plan 2010