I have just put up a page about the Upper Suir navigation, from
Clonmel downstream to Carrick-on-Suir. This was an extraordinarily
difficult navigation, with a fall of 57' in about twelve miles — and
not a single lock of any kind. There were shallows, rapids and floods:
the level of the Suir could change very quickly in response to
rainfall, and the currents, bad enough at the best of times, could
rapidly become extremely dangerous. It is not surprising, therefore,
that the worst accident in Irish inland waterways history was here:
the
drowning of over 100 people, most of them women and children, who were
travelling downstream from Clonmel to Carrick.         

And this navigation was worked entirely by horse power, with up to
fifteen horses employed at times to haul the boats upstream. 

This account includes extracts from poems and links to old photos, as
well as many, many photos of major sections of the navigation. There
is also a diversion to cover the millstreams and weirs of Clonmel and
there are opinions from the authors of early guidebooks for oarsmen
and canoeists. However, there are undoubtedly errors and omissions,
and I welcome Comments that might help to improve this account.     

TinyURL: http://tinyurl.com/o2b6m2

TinyURL preview: http://preview.tinyurl.com/o2b6m2

Full version:
http://irishwaterwayshistory.com/abandoned-or-little-used-irish-waterways/the-upper-suir-carrick-to-clonmel/

bjg