In some of my posts I may have spelled Louisa incorrectly as Lousia.
There are not many bridges in Ireland named after women and to the best of my knowledge Louisa Bridge is the only canal bridge named after of woman. Louisa Connolly was the wife of Thomas Connolly of Castletown House and he was a Royal Canal Director.
The Spa Spring was unearthed by workmen digging the canal in 1793 and the company decided to routed the warm spring to a shallow hexagonal shaped pond, and from here it flowed down the side of the valley to a romanesque bath.
The spa waters bubble from the ground at a constant 23.9 degrees Celsius (75 degrees F) and drain into the Rye River below.
I was under the impression that the Spa Spring and Roman Bath had been restored but as you can see from my photographs they are in poor condition.
THE RYEWATER AQUEDUCT ON THE ROYAL CANAL [AND NEARBY]
Ryewater Aqueduct which carries both the Royal Canal and the railway tracks across the river Rye.
The Rye runs north of Kilcock and Maynooth. Maynooth Castle is built between the Lyreen and its tributary the Joan Slade River. The Lyreen and Rye meet to the east of Maynooth and flow on through the estate of Carton House. In the estate, the river was widened to form an ornamental lake within the Georgian parklands, further enhanced by an ornamental bridge and boathouse.
The river then flows behind Intel Ireland where Intel have been monitoring the water quality since 1989.
Near Louisa Bridge in Leixlip the waters from the Leixlip Spa flow into Rye River. There is also an overflow from the canal. The Rye then flows under the Royal Canal, which is carried in the Leixlip aqueduct almost 100 feet (30m) above. The aqueduct is in fact an earth embankment, which took six years to build in the 1790s.
The Rye then descends into the heart of Leixlip. Here the river was harnessed by mills. In 1758, the site was used as a linen printing mill. Later the Rye Vale distillery was built, producing more than 20,000 gallons of whiskey annually in 1837. The distillery finally closed for good in the 1890s and the distillery has since been converted into apartments.The Rye then flows under the Rye Bridge to the confluence with the Liffey near the existing Boat House of Leixlip demesne.
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