There is a small car park at the bottom of Chapel Hill next to the community playground, which allows visitors to park up and enjoy the riverside views.
This area is known locally as ‘The Ferry’, and is named after the ferry service which operated here from the early 18th century. It provided a crossing point across Castle Lough to County Clare and over the years was operated by many local families including the Enrights and the Bourkes.
The legendary blind ferryman, Tom Enright, known as Tom Potts, is perhaps the most famous of these boatmen. He had a reputation for navigating his way across the river regardless of the weather and it is written that he never had the slightest mishap, never lost control of his boat and never missed his landing stage. He continued to ferry visitors back and forth well into his seventies only retiring due to ill health.
In the early 1900s, the ferry was operated by the Bourke family, father and sons who took their turn operating the ferryboats and working on the river with visiting anglers. The local postman also made the crossing each day in his own boat, delivering the mail from the Castleconnell Post Office to the Clonlara district in County Clare.
In the 1920s, the construction of the headrace canal serving the new hydroelectric power station at Ardnacrusha substantially reduced the volume of water passing down the river. The ferry was no more.
Today, visiting families come to enjoy the playground, feed the swans and picnic by the riverside.