[What3Words ///engages.tens.flash]
You are now at Confey, the county border of Dublin and Kildare.
18.85km from Spencer Dock
This was a most controversial stretch of the canal because it became generally known that an unnecessary deviation to the south had been made to bring the canal through Maynooth at the request of the Duke of Leinster, who was a prominent member of the company. A more northerly route would have avoided the Deep Sinking and the costly Ryewater Aqueduct. The cutting, hewn and blasted through the hard black calcareous stone, cost more than €40,000, €10,000 of which was spent on tools and gunpowder.
It’s a short walk from Cope Bridge to the ruins of the old staging house. Just beyond the old house you will notice that the width of the canal narrows and the bank changes from clay to stone. You get a better view of the aqueduct from the river. The terrace of steps cut into the steep bank take you all the way down.