![Newry River](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Newry_River.JPG)
Newry River and River Clanrye ( ga, An Rí;
Ulster-Scots: ''Clanrye Wattèr'') are names for one of the
rivers of Ireland
Shown here are all the major rivers and tributaries of Ireland with their lengths (in kilometres and miles). Starting with the Northern Ireland rivers, and going in a clockwise direction, the rivers (and tributaries) are listed in regard to their ...
. The river passes through the city of
Newry
Newry (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Clanrye river in counties Armagh and Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011.
Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, althoug ...
and empties into
Carlingford Lough
Carlingford Lough (, Ulster Scots: ''Carlinford Loch'') is a glacial fjord or sea inlet in northeastern Ireland, forming part of the border between Northern Ireland to the north and the Republic of Ireland to the south. On its northern shore i ...
near
Warrenpoint
Warrenpoint ( ga, An Pointe) is a small port town and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It sits at the head of Carlingford Lough, south of Newry, and is separated from the Republic of Ireland by a narrow strait. The town is beside ...
.
Course
The river, which runs through
Newry
Newry (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Clanrye river in counties Armagh and Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011.
Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, althoug ...
, forms the historic border between
County Armagh
County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and ha ...
and
County Down
County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...
. Some maps call the portion downstream from Newry to the Lough the 'Newry River' and the portion upstream of Newry the 'Clanrye' (as it curls around to its sources in the foothills of the
Mourne Mountains
The Mourne Mountains ( ; ga, Beanna Boirche), also called the Mournes or Mountains of Mourne, are a granite mountain range in County Down in the south-east of Northern Ireland. They include the highest mountains in Northern Ireland, the high ...
in
Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...
), but not all sources make this distinction. According to local tradition, however, the entire waterway is known as the Clanrye.
While the Newry River flows under the
Newry Town Hall, according to the
Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland
{{Unreferenced, date=April 2021
Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland (OSNI) was the official mapping agency of Northern Ireland. The agency ceased to exist separately on 1 April 2008 when it became part of Land and Property Services, an executiv ...
, the Clanrye breaks away from the Newry River near Drummillar. The Clanrye then progresses under the main
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
to
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
A1 road at Sheepbridge and onward toward the
Mayobridge
Mayobridge () is a village within Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland, lying on the small river Clanrye which divides the townlands of Mayo and Bavan. It is located within the Newry and Mourne District Council area - it had a population of 1,069 ...
Road at the Crown Bridges and Ashtree Cottages.
Beyond Newry, the river flows south east, past
Narrow Water Castle
Narrow Water Castle ( ga, Caisleán an Chaoil; Ulster-Scots: ''Narra Wattèr Castle'') is a 16th-century tower house and bawn near Warrenpoint in Northern Ireland. It is beside the A2 road and on the County Down bank of the Clanrye (Newry) ...
, where it enters
Carlingford Lough
Carlingford Lough (, Ulster Scots: ''Carlinford Loch'') is a glacial fjord or sea inlet in northeastern Ireland, forming part of the border between Northern Ireland to the north and the Republic of Ireland to the south. On its northern shore i ...
at
Warrenpoint
Warrenpoint ( ga, An Pointe) is a small port town and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It sits at the head of Carlingford Lough, south of Newry, and is separated from the Republic of Ireland by a narrow strait. The town is beside ...
.
Names
Clanrye River
The word 'Clanrye' comes from the
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
''An Gleann Rí'' meaning The King's Valley.
Newry River and Saint Patrick
During one of
Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick ( la, Patricius; ga, Pádraig ; cy, Padrig) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints be ...
's exploratory missions to
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
he was said to have set up camp on a sandy stretch of the Clanrye River. Whilst settling himself there he took the decision to plant a
yew tree
Yew is a common name given to various species of trees.
It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Taxus'':
* European yew or common yew (''Taxus baccata'')
* Pacific yew or western yew (''Taxus b ...
symbolising Ireland's growing and strengthening faith. It is this story which gave Newry its name, ''Iúr Cinn Trá'': the yew tree at the head of the strand (although this part of the riverbank does not resemble a beach today). A monastery, later replaced in 1144 by a
Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
Abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.
The conce ...
,
grew up around this yew, with the associated city, An nIúr (simply 'The Yew Tree'), and by
anglicisation
Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...
, Newry, arising around the monastery, and the river, thereafter. An image of a seated St Patrick beside a yew tree by the Clanrye River remains the crest of several local organisations including
Newry City A.F.C.
Newry City Athletic Football Club are a semi-professional Northern Irish football club who play in the Irish League Premiership. They are based in Newry, County Down and play at the Showgrounds. The club's colours are blue and white.
Backgr ...
and the local ''
Newry Reporter
The ''Newry Reporter'' was established in 1867 by James Burns and is the oldest newspaper serving the Newry and Mourne region of Northern Ireland, UK.
History
After the death of James Burns in 1902, the paper was sold to Joseph Wright who op ...
'' newspaper.
See also
*
List of rivers of Northern Ireland
This is an alphabetical list of the main rivers on the island of Ireland. It includes rivers that flow through the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Rivers that flow through Northern Ireland are marked with an asterisk (*). There are over ...
References
Rivers of County Down
Newry
{{NorthernIreland-river-stub