The Grand Canal is the southernmost of a pair of canal

Canal

Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...

s that connect Dublin, in the east of Ireland, with the River Shannon

River Shannon

The River Shannon is the longest river in Ireland at . It divides the west of Ireland from the east and south . County Clare, being west of the Shannon but part of the province of Munster, is the major exception...

 in the west,via Tullamore and a number of other villages and towns, the two canals nearly encircling Dublin's inner city

Inner city

The inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis. In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, the term is often applied to the lower-income residential districts in the city centre and nearby areas...

. Its sister canal on the Northside

Northside (Dublin)

The Northside is the area in County Dublin, Ireland bounded to the south by the River Liffey to the east by Dublin Bay, to the north and west by the boundaries of County Dublin.- Introduction :...

 of Dublin is the Royal Canal

Royal Canal of Ireland

The Royal Canal is a canal originally built for freight and passenger transportation from the River Liffey at Dublin to the River Shannon at Cloondara in County Longford in Ireland. It fell into disrepair, but since has been restored for navigation...

. The last working cargo barge passed through the Grand Canal in 1960.
There are a number of branches off the Grand Canal, some of which have been closed and of these, some subsequently restored and reopened.

• The original main line to Grand Canal Harbour near St. James's Gate
  St. James's Gate
  St. James's Gate, located off the south quays of Dublin, on James Street, was the western entrance to the city during the Middle Ages. During this time it was the traditional starting point for the Dublin pilgrimage Camino to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Now central to a industrial area, St...
  
   in Dublin City (most of the route is now used by the red line Luas
  Luas
  Luas , also promoted in the development stage as the Dublin Light Rail System, is a tram or light rail system serving Dublin, the first such system in the decades since the closure of the last of the Dublin tramways. In 2007, the system carried 28.4 million passengers, a growth of 10% since...
  
  ).