It was the longest load on an Irish road

August 1977

The longest piece of machinery ever to be transported on Irish roads left Wexford early on Tuesday morning, bound for Cork.

The 112-ffet long ‘Slug Catcher’, a large pressure vessel, was designed and manufactured by John Jackman Engineering Ltd., Wexford.

Destined for the onshore station at the Kinsale Head Gas Field at Inch, Co. Cork, the vessel is one of two ordered by the Marathon Company from John Jackman. The total value of the two orders comes to some £90,000.

Although headed for Cork, the ‘Slug Catcher’ – which is so called because one of its functions is trapping slugs of impurity from the gas as it is delivered onshore – had to be routed first to Dublin.

This is because the roads between Wexford and Cork are not suitable for such a huge load and there would have been problems getting it through such towns as Dungarvan and Youghal.

As it happened, one of the biggest problems turned out to be just getting it out of Wexford, with the carriers, McCluskeys from Dublin, having to do as much reversing as going forward to get it from the industrial estate, past Clonard, down Belvedere Road, Hill Road and Spawell Road onto the bridge before having a clear run north towards Dublin.

This has been the biggest piece of equipment made at John Jackman’s. It was started last Februrary, and the second vessel will be ready for transportation in the coming weeks.

It too will have to be routed through Dublin, but Managing Director Mr John Jackman did not think this would work against his firm or other Wexford firms being awarded similar contracts in the future. He said the important thing is the quality of the finished product, rather than how it is shipped to its destination.