The Pier Head

The Inland Steam Navigation Company had their headquarters here in the late 18th and 19th centuries and established regular services for passengers and goods up the Shannon through Lough Derg to Portumna, Athlone and Banager, and from Banagher by canal boats to Dublin.

From 1799, the Pier Headat the junction of the canal and the river was a busy place where vessels could load and unload goods and passengers.

Until the Railway arrived in 1862, the Shannon was the principal means of transport in the area and carried various types of cargo, including flour and turf, and the world-famous Guinness. During the Great Famine (1845 – 1848) and in the immediate post- Famine years, thousands of people embarked here on the first leg of their journey to a new land.