Paddle your own canoe, they said. OK, I said. Best weekend trip I've had in a long time. At 11am we were met by Nathan in Bagnelstown (also known as Muine Beag), where he took our camp gear and gave us his canoes for us to paddle. He then brought our gear to the campsite and we headed off down the River Barrow on our two day adventure. Because the River Barrow was made navigable for commercial barges in the Victorian era, we had two options in terms of route. Paddle down the weirs or port around the lock gates. Being somewhat unfamiliar with the weirs on the river, we decided to port. All thirteen locks. The last lock at St Mullins is mandatory to port around as the weir is not suitable for any craft, but next time I think I will don a helmet, face my fears and go down the first twelve weirs on the two day route. All that said, the experience was so awesome, the porting didn't take away from it at all. At the end of the first day, after the bridge near Borris, we approached the campsite where again the river splits into two. If you see a barge parked up on the island in the left hand channel you're in the right place. Now here we did need to tackle the weir to get to the campsite and my advice is stick to the right hand side as much as you can and you should be grand. It was actually good fun going down the weir here. Then just around the bend we found the mooring pontoon to disembark at. Walking up the hill and past the main house on the right, we found our gear waiting for us under a tree in the field down a slope on the left. You will see the weir stretch out in front of you and some forestry on the other side of the river. It was stunning to be honest, really really lovely. And we got to camp here. With a camp fire. Fantastic. The next day we set off destined for St Mullins. And if we thought the first leg of the route was nice, the second leg was even nicer. It's a wonderful part of the world and seeing it from a canoe on the River Barrow was something special. Each morning started off overcast, but it cleared on both days with some fantastic summer weather. We really did luck out with the sunshine and warmth on this trip. The scenery, the wildlife and the farm life we paddled past was all fantastic. The lock gates with their gatekeeper houses. The arched bridges. And the scenic forestry on the second day of the route. All so memorable. I can't recommend this trip enough. You should paddle your own canoe too. read more

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