On the 1938 date it is referenced in The Canals of the South of Ireland. It could well be that the company was kept as a separate legal entity (possibly related to the fact that the MGWR were supposed to keep the canal navigable) and that moves were taken in 1938 to tidy up the anomaly.

I haven't come across the 1938 date (but haven't looked very closely). I was, though, interested in what might be a relevant point: when did the [New] Royal Canal Company cease to exist? It was still being mentioned in discussions about water supply in 1893, and some company ads from around 1880 are in the names of both MGWR and RCC.

bjg

If you see IH as systems, not just artefacts, then the postal service certainly falls under that heading. IH is not just for engineers, is it? bjg

Note also the Lough Ree eel fisherman and the turf cot at Athlone. The NLI had an exhibition of some of these photos in 2007. The photographers' description of the Athlone turf cot (apologies for the translation) read:

"One of the little primitive barges of the bogs in the centre of Ireland. There were about 800 or 900 of these small, curious, barges, black on the flat bottom, which were at the bogs near to the centre of Athlone to carry the turf (especially). Now, one can hold such a large quantity of English coal and one can exploit the mines of Ireland with such activity, that the “turf cots” are rapidly disappearing. counts those that remain. he strange little sail seems to be made from 3 or 4 pocket handkerchiefs sewn together and is attached to a small stick of hazel (?). This was taken on the banks of the river Shannon."

bjg