The River Vartry (; ) is a river in

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by t ...

, Ireland, and an important water source for the city of Dublin.Dublin on a knife-edge when it comes to water supply
''Irish Times'' March 10, 2018

Name

The river first appears in 12th-century records with the name ''Fertir'' or ''Fortir''. This is believed to derive from an Old Irish term meaning "fortress", perhaps referring to a

ringfort Ringforts, ring forts or ring fortresses are circular fortified settlements that were mostly built during the Bronze Age up to about the year 1000. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are also many in South Wales ...

at Glasnamullen. Similar placenames are found at Forther, Forthar, Fortriu and Ferter in Scotland.

Course

The Vartry rises in ''Calary Bog'' under the

Great Sugar Loaf Great Sugar Loaf () at , is the 404th–highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin scale, however, being below 600 m it does not rank on the Vandeleur-Lynam or Hewitt scales.Mountainviews, (September 2013), "A Guide to Ireland's Mountain Summits: ...

mountain in northern

. Passing through a Dublin municipal reservoir complex, it flows east towards

Ashford Ashford may refer to: Places Australia *Ashford, New South Wales *Ashford, South Australia *Electoral district of Ashford, South Australia Ireland *Ashford, County Wicklow *Ashford Castle, County Galway United Kingdom * Ashford, Kent, a town ** ...

under Annagolan Bridge, and down through Devil's Glen. From there it passes the Nun's Cross Bridge (dating from the 18th century) on through Ashford, under the N11 road and continues eastwards into Broad Lough, which flows towards Wicklow town. Broad Lough is a narrow lake which lies approximately 1 km north of Parnell Bridge in Wicklow town (at its closest point) and approximately 4 km north of Parnell Bridge (at its furthest point). This lake and surrounding wetlands evolved when a sand spit formed along the coastline cutting off the Vartry from its original egress. This sand spit is called The Murrough/Murragh and it carries the Dublin to Wicklow coastal railway line built in the 1860s. Broad Lough drains southwards into the Irish Sea through Wicklow town centre and harbour. The name of this stretch of water (approximately 1.5 km in length) is disputed. It is variously called the River Leitrim, the Broad Lough Estuary and the River Vartry.

Historical references

According to ''The Life of St. Patrick and His Place in History'' the place where St. Patrick landed was at Inverdea, the mouth of the river Vartry in County Wicklow.

City water supply

In 1861 Parliament passed the Dublin Waterworks Act creating a project to dam the River Vartry in Roundwood to form the

Vartry Reservoir Vartry Reservoir ( ga, Taiscumar Fheartraí) is a reservoir at Roundwood in County Wicklow, Ireland. The water is piped from Vartry to a large open service reservoir in Stillorgan in the southern suburbs of Dublin. The reservoir is operated b ...

. The dam, accompanying waterworks, and a pipe tunnel through a part of the Wicklow Mountains, were completed in 1865, providing the first clean mass source of water for Dublin, replacing water obtained from the canals. The Vartry Reservoir and Waterworks still supply some 200,000 homes, providing 40% of all of Dublin's water needs.

Popular culture

There are several references to the Vartry in James Joyce's ''

Ulysses Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature. Ulysses may also refer to: People * Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name Places in the United States * Ulysses, Kansas * Ulysse ...

'', "… and on his expressed desire for some beverage to drink Mr Bloom in view of the hour it was and there being no pump of Vartry water available for their ablutions let alone drinking purposes...” or “Power. Particular about his drink. Flaw in the glass, fresh Vartry water.” Likewise, in '' Finnegans Wake'', Joyce refers to the reservoir, writing “Water, water, darty water!”McHugh, Ronald. Annotations to Finnegans Wake. Pg. 521

Name

Course

Historical references

City water supply

Popular culture

References

See also