Overview
Ballyellen Upper Lock is one of the oddities of the Barrow Way, the towpath trail that runs some 114 km along the canalised River Barrow. Nearly every lock on the navigation has a pair of gates at each end; this one has a single gate top and bottom, which is unusual enough to be worth looking at twice. It sits just north - upstream - of Goresbridge in County Carlow, where there are two Ballyellen locks: this upper one above the bridge and a lower one below it. There’s no visitor centre and nothing is ticketed. The appeal is the towpath, the water and a working piece of 18th-century engineering.
Engineering and industrial heritage
The Barrow Navigation was first proposed in 1703, with work beginning under the engineer Thomas Omer in 1761. In time a chain of lateral canals and 23 locks connected Carlow, Bagenalstown and Graiguenamanagh down to Waterford Harbour. Commercial barges worked the river into the 1950s; the last of them ran in 1959, seen off by silting and by lorries and rail.
Beside the upper lock, a corn mill was built in 1789 with a malt house attached; by the middle of the 19th century the site had turned to a limestone quarry. The weir and mill race here once fed Duninga mill downstream, a big operation faced in cut stone to look like a medieval castle - the race is still visible from the towpath. The lock itself is a good place to watch the mechanics of the river: the raised toothed racks beside the gates show which sluices are open.
Townland history
The townlands of Ballyellen and Tomdarragh cover about 1.5 square miles on the Carlow–Kilkenny border. The name most likely comes from Alan Beg, a 13th-century landowner recorded as granting lands toward the building of nearby Duiske Abbey at Graiguenamanagh. Scattered through the surrounding fields are a standing stone, a ringfort, a bawn, the lines of an old field system and the ruins of a medieval church - the marks of a long-settled corner of the county.
Walking and cycling
The towpath runs from Goresbridge bridge past the lock and on south along the Barrow. It’s firm and level for the most part - packed gravel and earth, with the odd uneven patch near the gates and bridges - which makes it good for walkers and cyclists and manageable over short distances with a wheelchair or buggy. The flat stretch on to Graiguenamanagh is easy going, well signed and quiet. Further down at Clashganny, a loop leaves the towpath and climbs a forest track through birch woodland past an old mass rock, if you fancy swapping the river for the trees for a while.
Wildlife and paddling
The Barrow’s floodplain is good for birds and mammals: grey herons and kingfishers along the water, otters on a quiet morning, and songbirds and the odd hunting kestrel over the woods. Paddlers know the upper lock too - there’s a drop of about seven feet at the weir here, one to scout before you run it. Anglers work the deeper pools for brown trout and pike. Guided open-boat trips run from Graiguenamanagh Quay in season.
One caveat that matters: the Barrow rises fast after heavy rain, and high flows make the weirs and lock approaches dangerous and cut bridge clearance. Check the Waterways Ireland navigation notices and the Met Éireann forecast before you paddle or launch.
Nearby stops
Combine the lock with the Clashganny Forest and Historic Lock downstream, the medieval streets and Duiske Abbey at Graiguenamanagh, or a wander round Bagenalstown. At Goresbridge itself, the long stone road bridge over the Barrow is worth a pause, and the towpath carries on past the 16th-century Black Castle further up the river.