Photo: Bagenalstown Trip Boat Facebook page.
A new boat has been launched in Carlow to open up the waterways to public river boat trips, thanks to a new social enterprise and its team of volunteers.
Bád Keppel takes to the waters of Bagenalstown this weekend and can carry twelve passengers along the River Barrow, offering a new activity for locals and tourists alike.
Speaking on the Sunday Grill, James Lakes, volunteer skipper and captain of the boat says it was named after a special volunteer:
“The late Arthur Keppel was a river and boat man who loved Bagenalstown and helped us in the early stages of this project.”
"He was well known as a judge in the Barrow Awards each year and knew every town and village that the Barrow flows through."
"Sadly, Arthur passed away just as the project started in 2018."
The social enterprise called Bagenalstown Trip Boats Ltd will run the trips for the next few weeks with the boat, which was built at Fitzgerald Marine in Kinsale.
Bád Keppel will be moored at the quay in Bagenalstown and will travel upriver to Rathellen Lock and to Bagenalstown Lock (or Rae’s Lock).
The trips are short for now but will stretch further next year when the tourist season kicks off.
