Community activist and river enthusiast Michael G Phelan is set to launch a new book, ‘The Erkina River – from Source to Sea, Tales from 100 Days of Paddling.
The launch will take place in Bob’s Bar, Durrow on Sunday next, May 14 at 7pm, with RTE presenter Justing Treacy and Laois Rose Sinead Dowd set to be the special guests.
Michael G. who chairs Woodenbridge Paddlers Canoe Club and the Erkina Blueway Association, said that the club has always been fighting for the maintenance and development of the Erkina River.
“We started to develop it as a Blueway and got funding from the Leader programme.
“Part of its criteria is that 25 per cent of the amount must be brought in through fundraising.
“We couldn’t hold a festival during lockdown so I suggested that I would go out on the river for 30 consecutive days and raise sponsorship from different businesses. The response was so positive that it ended up being 100 consecutive days of paddling,” he said.
“I started to tell the stories of the various places I came across and people started telling me that I should record them in book form. The more people asked me, the more I thought it would be a good idea as I had travelled every inch of the river.
“The contents of this 157-page book will bring readers on the 153.8 km (95.6 mile) journey from the source of the Erkina River at Rathpatrick forest in Co. Kilkenny to its meeting place with the Celtic Sea at Hook Head in Co. Wexford,” said Michael G. who undertook the exploration with his dog, Captain.
“En route the river will meet many tributaries and will also have its confluence with the Goul and Nore rivers before later joining the Barrow River, north of New Ross in Co. Wexford and the River Suir at Cheekpoint in Co. Waterford,” he said.
History, heritage and folklore are all featured in the book. Old houses and estates; castles; Mass paths; graveyards; coach roads; mills; ancient roads and trails and the nunnery at Newtown are pinpointed. Cures and remedies from the past; river biodiversity; railways and the Hook Head lighthouse, along with maps and charts, are also included.
“The bones of these stories were researched during my ‘100 Days of Paddling’ which took place on consecutive days from April 1 to July 9, 2021,” said Michael G. who has been involved with Ballacolla GAA Club and Woodenbridge District Community Alert for many years.
He gleaned information from a whole range of sources including industrial heritage surveys; Laois graveyards’ survey; the national folklore collection at UCD; the Laois Habitats’ Survey 2010 and the Badminton Magazine of Sports and Pastimes 1904.
Copies of the self-published book which was two years in the making, are available from a range of outlets locally including: Bob’s Bar, Durrow; The Card Stand, Rathdowney; The Garden Centre at Manor Stone, Junction 3; Cullohill Service Station and The Kilkenny Book Centre. They cost €20 per copy.
