The Invention That Changed My Uncle’s Sundays: Irish Ingenuity and Canal Innovations

It was a Tuesday. May 24, 1960, was the Tuesday that changed my uncle’s way of life, or at least modified it. The copyright for the “gun-type garden hose nozzle” was granted that day. Ya see, my uncle lived in a time when hosing down the driveway was a job, well at least a task.

Weather permitting, he would include that task on his weekend to-do list. Ideally, it would occur Sunday after Mass and include a two-bit cigar in his left hand. His right hand was all business, particularly his thumb. His thumb controlled the water and the rate of completion, a rate that always coincided with the time it took to smoke his cigar.

It is staggering to extrapolate the gallons upon gallons of water dedicated to this habitual endeavor. That all changed just two weeks before Labor Day in 1960.

My uncle was a working fellow. He could dig a ditch, finish cement, and push a wheelbarrow when needed. When I would assist him, he always knew the “tricks of the trade.” He and his fellow workers had figured some things out, some things not so much.

It took me a while to realize the majority of the “not so muches” were by choice. I was in high school the first time he tried that hose nozzle. It was a Sunday afternoon in August, and it was hot. As the water washed the drive, steam rose to conceal the cigar smoke. The steam soon dissipated, and the driveway was never cleaner, but alas, the cigar was only halfway done.

It was like Cool Hand Luke tarring the road. Those who knew my uncle could see his bewilderment. Those who really knew my uncle were not surprised when he deduced there was time for a trip to his local.

He ordered me into the Buick and off we went. Aunt Irene would not consume on a Sunday; she was a true Trinitarian. My uncle was just as much Little Kings as he was Three Kings. It was not my first time being used as an accomplice. It was the first time one of his friends discussed abstaining from the drink.

Uncle Pat suggested a break from June 1 to June 1, and discussion ensued. We did not engage in the debate, just a quick beer; no one misses Sunday dinner. As the Buick headed home, my uncle turned to me and said, “June 1 to June 1, that’s just midnight to midnight. Even I could do that.”

Perspective was not the only thing I learned over at Aunt Irene’s.

Historical Perspective

It is the historical perspective that attempts to understand the forces that influenced people’s lives. The historian uses that perspective to explain the past, but the historian is not devoid of an ontological paradigm. How the historian interprets the past contributes to the narrative of the people being studied. That has affected the lens in which canal labor has been viewed—the unskilled narrative.

Locks, like those on the canals, were first conceived by Leonardo da Vinci. His canal lock was an improvement on previous designs dating back to Chiao Wei-Yo in 10th-century China. Da Vinci was able to analyze and renovate the canal lock and devise a more efficient and effective approach. Canal workers did that too.

Canal Innovations

The canals in America were the birthplace of engineering firsts and innovations in general. The locks, swing bridges, and the first iron-truss bridge were the result of those creating the canal system. There were also canal-related innovations like solar-powered salt production. The canals were a gargantuan undertaking that required innovation.

Only West Point had an official engineering program in America at the time, and very few involved had any experience on such a project. Irish labor might have had some experience before immigration, but nothing compared to dealing with the topography and forest density of the American continent. Canal workers repurposed plows and scrapers to function like a modern-day bulldozer. Conveyors were utilized when possible, and folks looked for ways to move dirt more efficiently.

That thought process led to the reshaping of the wheelbarrow. It was transformed from a box to a more rounded barrel, making it easier to dump. It was an innovation my uncle embraced and one that I have appreciated as well.

Dirt had to be moved, and trees had to be felled. Canal workers created a crank-driven tree feller. It removed tree and stump with the assistance of horses or oxen. A stump remover was also devised to remove the stumps of smaller trees. It could remove 40 stumps per day, versus the four per day by human labor.

Waterproof cement was produced by heating limestone. It was not an invention; the Romans had a version. It was “re-found” to build the canals. Today, we would call it hydraulic cement. The grain elevator was also created to assist in the unloading of cargo and transferring it to storage silos.

Irish Agency

The majority of historians who describe the canals share the idea that they were built by brute force and by brutes. However, those who worked on the canals, in part or in whole, were figuring some things out. That included repurposing contemporary technology and fostering innovations.

It may seem insignificant to those who have never been face down in the muck; however, configuring a piece of metal that attached to your boots, so you didn’t slip and fall in the mud as you were pushing the new version of the wheelbarrow, made a difference.

Trinitarians glorify the Trinity, are committed to charity, and strive for the redemption of today’s captives. The Trinitarian Order was approved by Pope Innocent III on December 17, 1198. Father Antall explained it better in his homily at Holy Name—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as a divine one.

It made me think of the Irish on the canal. Yes, a part of their skill set was the ability to perform a task that was physically daunting. The argument is that physicality was a component of who they were, and it should not define them in totality.

As we have discussed, those workers were also innovators who used their agency to find better and more efficient approaches to their work. They were people with a culture and a history. They were many things; but, as I have previously submitted, they were not unskilled.