Lagan Waterway and Dublin Trials
The clearest firmly dated development came on 1 January, when the completed Lagan Canal was formally opened. The new canal section ran from the existing navigation near Lisburn to Ellis’s Gut on Lough Neagh, making a continuous water route between Belfast and the great inland lake. The Marquess of Donegall, the project’s leading financial backer, took part in the opening journey. The final connection had only been cut through to the lough in December 1793, so the ceremony marked the first practical opening of the entire route rather than the beginning of a wholly new scheme.