The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser 26th March, 1803 p2
DUBLIN – AUGUST
On Monday, 23d inst. the foundation stone of the last Lock of the Grand Canal, where that work unites with the river Shannon, near Banagher, was laid by Richard Griffith, Esq., one of the Directors of that Company.
We congratulate our country on the near approach which this great national undertaking makes towards completion We have
watched it progress with anxious pleasure for many years past, and we have seen the beneficial effects of the progress in the advancement of agriculture into the heart of
the kingdom. When we look to its junction with the Shannon, and behold that noble river extending its fertile banks, 180 miles in length, through Roscommon, Galway, Mayo, Leitrim, Westmeath, King’s country, Tipperary, Limerick, and Clare, made navigable at public expense, free from toll, and brought by its junction with the Grand Canal, into contact with the market and port of Dublin, we are at a loss how to calculate the extent of public advantage, or to compute the amount of well-earned private gain which will result from the accomplishment of so bold and so well-conducted an undertaking.
We understand that the works between Tullamore and the Shannon, are proceeding with uncommon vigour, and that there is every reason to expect they will be completed within 12 or 14 months.
The Burren and Beyond 