The Slate River ( ga, An Tarae) or River Slate is a river in

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

and

County Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

, Ireland, a tributary of the

Figile River The Figile River (; ga, Abhainn Fhiodh Gaibhle) is a river in eastern Ireland. Name The earliest recorded name is ''Fidgable''/''Fid nGabli'', meaning "Gabul's Wood", recorded in the Book of Leinster and the Metrical Dindshenchas, both c. 116 ...

Name

Its name derives from the

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

quarries in the region. The Irish language name derives from ''tarae'', meaning

mill race A mill race, millrace or millrun, mill lade (Scotland) or mill leat (Southwest England) is the current of water that turns a water wheel, or the channel ( sluice) conducting water to or from a water wheel. Compared with the broad waters of a mi ...

, referring to Sally Corn Mill, Rathangan. The river was historically known as the Clashaghbane River.

Course

Slate River rises near Ballynafagh Lake in Prosperous and flows southwest, passing under the R403 road at Graigues. It continues westward parallel to, and north of, the Grand Canal. The Slate passes under the Grand Canal via the Derrymullen aqueduct and is bridged by the R415 at Littletown. The Slate River continues through Ballyteague Forest and passes by the

Lullymore Lullymore () is a civil parish in County Kildare in Ireland. It is in the historical barony of Offaly East. The lowest observed 20th century air temperature in Ireland, -18.8 °C was measured at Lullymore on 2 January 1979. Location Lullym ...

Heritage and Discovery Park on the

Bog of Allen The Bog of Allen ( ga, Móin Alúine) is a large raised bog in the centre of Ireland between the rivers Liffey and Shannon. The bog's 958 square kilometers (370 square miles) stretch into County Offaly, County Meath, County Kildare, County Lao ...

. It passes through

Rathangan, County Kildare Rathangan (; ) is a town in the west of County Kildare, Ireland. , the population was 2,611. It is located from the centre of Dublin, and from Kildare, at the intersection of the R401, R414, and R419 regional roads. The Slate River and t ...

where it passes under Rathangan Bridge, part of the R401. There is also a footbridge downstream of this bridge, and another bridge (for the R414) at Rathangan

Demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...

. The Slate River continues westward, passing into

and draining into the

just south of

Bracknagh Bracknagh or Bracnagh () is a small village in County Offaly, Ireland. It is at the junction of the R442 and R419 regional roads, halfway between Portarlington and Rathangan (8 km from both). It is thought that the settlement began wit ...

Wildlife

Northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus '' Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a ...

European perch The European perch (''Perca fluviatilis''), also known as the common perch, redfin perch, big-scaled redfin, English perch, Euro perch, Eurasian perch, Eurasian river perch, Hatch, poor man’s rockfish or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply th ...

and

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...

are common.

References

{{coord, 53.1936, -7.0891, type:river_region:IE, display=title Rivers of County Kildare Rivers of County Offaly

Name

Course

Wildlife

See also

References