Leixlip Spa

Leixlip Spa

The Leixlip Spa situated close to the Royal Canal, Ireland at Louisa Bridge was discovered in 1793 by a group of work men excavating for the canal. William Connolly who acquired Leixlip Castle in 1732 planned to develop the spa into a classical thermal spa but to no avail.

The spa waters bubble from the ground at a constant 75 degrees and drain into the Rye River below. The spa was widely used over the years but since the 1960s it has fallen into disrepair. To preserve the spa, a committee was set up from members of Leixlip Town Council, Kildare County Council, An Taisce, Duchas and the National History Museum.

History

The Royal Canal was built to compete with the Grand and the canal was conceived by a disgruntled member of the Grand Canal Board. The canal was to be 146 kilometres long and construction began in 1790.

The area around Leixlip where the spa was built saw one of the most expensive civil engineering tasks ever undertaken in Ireland as the canal (built alongside the newly discovered spa) had to cross the Rye Water valley, 26 metres (85 ft) below the level of the canal - because of this feat it is considered that this area is one of the most important in terms of engineering and industrial archaeology. The engineering effort took 6 years to complete and cost more than €200 million by today’s standards, it still remains today a stunning sight.

In recent years the level of the spa was dropped by 0.6 metres (two feet) by pump to reveal the cap stones surrounding the spa. The site was thick in sludge, although the water was quite clear. Domestic rubbish including the usual refrigerators, shoes, and jackets were removed. It is now the responsibility of Kildare County Council and Leixlip Town Council to continue with the work to restore the spa which is part of Ireland's National Heritage and an important feature in the Kildare area.

External links

* [http://kildare.iwai.ie/leixlipspa.html Spa Renovation Efforts]
* [http://kildare.ie/leixlip/news/view-details.asp?NewsID=41 Leixlip Spa Committee]
* [http://iwn.iwai.ie/v30i4/kildare.PDF Leixlip Spa Walk] (PDF Format)


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Spa (disambiguation) — Spa can refer to * a therapeutic water treatment; see Spa and Mineral spa ** A destination spa or day spa * A hot tub * Spa, a brand of Belgian mineral water. Also, an out of date term for carbonated water in general (for example see the lyrics… …   Wikipedia

  • Leixlip — Infobox Irish Place name = Leixlip gaeilge = Léim an Bhradáin crest motto = Léim ar Aghaidh Leap Ahead map pin coords = left: 78px; top: 24px north coord = 53.3636 west coord = 6.4864 irish grid = O003360 area = elevation = 46 m province =… …   Wikipedia

  • Dublin tramways — For the current light rail system in Dublin, see Luas. The last DUTC tram to run in Dublin city, needed police protection from souvenir hunters on its final trip to the Blackrock Depot …   Wikipedia

  • Shane Fitzgerald — Shane Fitzgerald, an Irish Green Party politician, was elected to the Leixlip Town Council in the Irish local elections of 2004. Fitzgerald is a member of Policing, Arts Tourism Heritage (convenor), Town Improvements, Leisure Social Affairs,… …   Wikipedia

  • Lucan, County Dublin — For other meanings of Lucan, see Lucan (disambiguation). For the Roman poet Lucan, see Marcus Annaeus Lucanus. Infobox Irish Place name = Lucan gaeilge = Leamhcán map pin coords = left:22px; top:86px north coord = 53.3544 west coord = 6.4486… …   Wikipedia

  • List of twin towns and sister cities in France — This is a list of twin towns and sister cities in France. It is the subset for France of the List of twin towns and sister cities .A* Abbeville:flagicon|GRE Argos, Greece:flagicon|ENG Burgess Hill, England* Ablis:flagicon|GER Wendelsheim,… …   Wikipedia

  • List of castles in the Republic of Ireland — Castles in the Republic of Ireland is a link page for any castle in the Republic of Ireland. By county County Carlow * [http://www.rootsweb.com/ irlcar2/castles of carlow.htm Castles of Co Carlow ] *Carlow Castle, Ruins *Castlemore s Castle, 12th …   Wikipedia

  • List of towns and villages in the Republic of Ireland — This is a link page for cities and towns in Ireland, including villages, townships or urban centres in Dublin. Cities are shown in bold; see Cities in Ireland for an independent list. See also : * List of towns in the Republic of Ireland/Largest… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Gaelic Athletic Association clubs — This is a list of Gaelic Athletic Association clubs across the world, organised by GAA county which they are associated with .Asia*Admiralty Crokes *Beijing *Colmcille s *Dalian Wolfhounds *Dubai Celts *Fr. Murphy s, Lamma *Hong Kong *Japan… …   Wikipedia

  • List of census towns in the Republic of Ireland — This page lists the towns of Ireland as defined by the Central Statistics Office for the 2002 census.Under the Local Government Acts, 1994 (S.I. 171 of 1994) and 2001 (S.I. 591 of 2001), the following cities and towns have legally defined… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”