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. It was the first
summit level canal to be built in Ireland or Great Britain, and pre-dated the more famous
Bridgewater Canal by nearly thirty years and
Sankey Brook by fifteen years. It was authorised by the Commissioners of Inland Navigation for Ireland, and was publicly funded. It was opened in 1742, but there were issues with the lock construction, the width of the summit level and the water supply. Below Newry, a ship canal was opened in 1769, and both Newry and the canal flourished.