![LowerCorrib3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/LowerCorrib3.jpg)
The River Corrib (
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 ...
: ''Abhainn na Gaillimhe'') in the west of Ireland flows from
Lough Corrib
Lough Corrib ( ; ) is a lake in the west of Ireland. The River Corrib or Galway River connects the lake to the sea at Galway. It is the largest lake within the Republic of Ireland and the second largest on the island of Ireland (after Lough Nea ...
through
Galway
Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...
to
Galway Bay
Galway Bay (Irish: ''Loch Lurgain'' or ''Cuan na Gaillimhe'') is a bay on the west coast of Ireland, between County Galway in the province of Connacht to the north and the Burren in County Clare in the province of Munster to the south; Galwa ...
. The river is among the shortest in Europe, with only a length of six kilometres from the lough to the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
. It is popular with local
whitewater kayakers as well as several rowing clubs and pleasure craft. The depth of this river reaches up to 94 feet.
The Corrib drains a catchment area of 3,138 km
2.
Although the Corrib is one of Ireland's shortest rivers, it has a mean long-term flow rate of 104.8 m
3/s, making it Ireland's second-largest river (by flow), only surpassed by the
River Shannon
The River Shannon ( ga, Abhainn na Sionainne, ', '), at in length, is the longest river in the British Isles. It drains the Shannon River Basin, which has an area of , – approximately one fifth of the area of the island of Ireland.
The Shan ...
.
Naming
The translation of the Irish name of the river is ''Galway river'' i.e. from ''Gaillimh''. In Irish it is sometimes called ''An Ghaillimh'' ("the Galway") and also incorrectly called ''Abhainn na Coiribe''. The legend concerning its naming states that it was called after
Gaillimh inion Breasail, the daughter of a
Fir Bolg
In medieval Irish myth, the Fir Bolg (also spelt Firbolg and Fir Bholg) are the fourth group of people to settle in Ireland. They are descended from the Muintir Nemid, an earlier group who abandoned Ireland and went to different parts of Europe. ...
chieftain who drowned in the river. The word ''Gaillimh'' is believed to mean "stony" as in "stony river". The commonly held myth that the city takes its name from the Irish word ''Gallaibh'', "foreigners" i.e. "the town of the foreigners" (from ''Gall'', a foreigner) is incorrect as the name Gaillimh was applied to the river first and then later onto the town. Indeed, the earliest settlement at Galway was called ''Dún Bhun na Gaillimhe'', or "the fort at the end of the Galway (river)".
![Corrib2Dec2006](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Corrib2Dec2006.jpg)
The river gave its name to the town, which grew to a city, and from c. 1570 onwards, the city gave its name to the county. It also aided massively in the industrial development of the town, allowing it to develop
electrical power
Electric power is the rate at which electrical energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt, one joule per second. Standard prefixes apply to watts as with other SI units: thousands, millions and billions o ...
before London. At the height of water power, there were over twenty
water wheels
A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or bucket ...
in operation from races built on the river and its accompanying cut, the Eglinton
Canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
, which was built as part of the "Drainage and Navigation scheme of
Lough Carra,
Lough Corrib
Lough Corrib ( ; ) is a lake in the west of Ireland. The River Corrib or Galway River connects the lake to the sea at Galway. It is the largest lake within the Republic of Ireland and the second largest on the island of Ireland (after Lough Nea ...
and
Lough Mask
Lough Mask () is a limestone lake of about in Counties Mayo and Galway, Ireland, north of Lough Corrib. Lough Mask is the middle of the three lakes, which empty into the Corrib River, through Galway, into Galway Bay. Lough Carra flows into ...
" in the mid-19th century. The canal, which is about three-quarters of a mile long, had a sea-lock, a large basin, a second lock at Parkavore and five swivelling bridges. It is still in water but the swivelling bridges have been replaced by fixed bridges; the last vessel to use the navigation was the Amo II, a 90' motor-yacht that had been sold by the Guinness trustees to Frank Bailey, a Galway hotelier.
Lough Corrib is the anglicised form of ''Loch Coirib'' which itself is a corruption of Loch nOrbsean which, according to placename lore, is named after the Irish god of the sea. There is good fishing to be had on both the lake and river.
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
's ''
Geography
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...
'' (2nd century AD) described a river called Αυσοβα (''Ausoba'') which probably referred to the River Corrib.
''Upper'' and ''Lower'' Corrib
![Friars' Cut, Galway](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Friars%27_Cut%2C_Galway.jpg)
The part of the river that flows from the southern end of the lake to the
Salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...
Weir is known as the ''Upper Corrib''. The
weir
A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...
, a set of weir gates also built during the above navigation scheme, was originally built from stone and timber but now only two of these gates remain and are only opened in times of flood. The rest have been replaced by fourteen steel gates, as shown in the photograph above.
The main channel leaving Lough Corrib is called ''Friars' Cut'' or ''Friars' River'' () as it is the result of a very early piece of canal engineering. In 1178 the friars of
Claregalway Abbey
The Claregalway Friary () is a ruined medieval Franciscans, Franciscan abbey in Claregalway, County Galway, Ireland.
The abbey site features an east-facing, Cruciform#Cruciform architectural plan, cruciform church (minus a south transept) wit ...
, being tired of the long detour they had to make to the west to enter the river, asked permission from the Blakes of Menloe to make an artificial cut, which in time became the main course of the river and was then widened.
The section of the river that runs from the Salmon Weir through Galway city and out into Galway Bay is known as the ''Lower Corrib''. Three bridges cross the ''Lower'' – the
Salmon Weir Bridge
The River Corrib (Irish: ''Abhainn na Gaillimhe'') in the west of Ireland flows from Lough Corrib through Galway to Galway Bay. The river is among the shortest in Europe, with only a length of six kilometres from the lough to the Atlantic. It ...
,
William O'Brien
William O'Brien (2 October 1852 – 25 February 1928) was an Irish nationalist, journalist, agrarian agitator, social revolutionary, politician, party leader, newspaper publisher, author and Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of ...
Bridge and
Wolfe Tone
Theobald Wolfe Tone, posthumously known as Wolfe Tone ( ga, Bhulbh Teón; 20 June 176319 November 1798), was a leading Irish revolutionary figure and one of the founding members in Belfast and Dublin of the United Irishmen, a republican socie ...
Bridge.
The only
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...
of the Lower Corrib is Sruthán na gCaisleáin (Castle Stream) known by whitewater kayakers as the ''Shit Chute'' and the access point to the river,
a small stream that flows through
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
, the grounds of
NUI Galway
The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...
, and empties into the Lower just downstream of King's weir, commonly known as the fish gates.
The official publication for NUI Galway Alumni, Staff & Friends, ''Cois Coiribe'', is named in reference to the Corrib.
Bridges
![Galway Salmon Weir Bridge](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Galway_Salmon_Weir_Bridge.JPG)
Four bridges span Corrib in
Galway
Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...
. These are the Wolfe Tone Bridge, the William O'Brien Bridge, the Salmon Weir Bridge, and the Quincentenary Bridge.
See also
*
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 ...
*
List of rivers in Ireland
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
*
List of loughs in Ireland
References
External links
Lower Corrib River GuideCanoeing at O'Brien's Bridge, GalwaySurfing O'Brien's Wave on the Lower Corribfrom ''YouTube'' - No longer available 01Jul17
Jes Rowing on the CorribSalmon fishing on the River Corrib (Galway Fishery), from Salmon IrelandThe Eglinton Canal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corrib
Geography of Galway (city)
Rivers of County Galway