The River Suck ( ga, An tSuca ) is a river within the

Shannon River Basin The Shannon River Basin consists of the area containing Ireland, Ireland's longest river, the River Shannon, and all of its tributaries and lakes. The official Ordnance Survey Ireland length of the Shannon from its Shannon Pot source is made up o ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, 133 km (82.5 mi) in length. It is the main tributary of 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 Sha ...

. It meets the Shannon a kilometre south of the village of

Shannonbridge Shannonbridge () is a village located on the River Shannon, at the junction of the R444 and R357 regional roads in County Offaly, Ireland. It lies within the townland of Raghra (), at the borders of counties Offaly, Galway and Roscommon, with ...

Name

The river's name is derived from the Irish ''suca''. The

Placenames Branch The Placenames Database of Ireland ( ga, Bunachar Logainmneacha na hÉireann), also known as , is a database and archive of place names in Ireland. It was created by Fiontar, Dublin City University in collaboration with the Placenames Branch of t ...

of the government

Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media ( ga, An Roinn Turasóireachta, Cultúir, Ealaíon, Gaeltachta, Spóirt agus Meán) is a department of the Government of Ireland. The mission of the department is to promote a ...

observed that "the root word is wrapped in a web of uncertainty and lost in the mists of time".

Edmund Hogan Edmund Ignatius Hogan S.J. (23 January 1831 – 26 November 1917) was an Irish Jesuit scholar. Life Hogan was born at Belvelly near Cobh, co. Cork on 23 January 1831, the youngest son of William Hogan and his wife Mary Morris. He joined the Soci ...

's ''Onomasticon Goedelicum'' (1910) records the spellings ''suġ'' (''sugh''), suggesting connections to

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writte ...

''súg'' ("juice, sap").

Course

The River Suck drains an area of . It forms much of the border between

County Roscommon "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Sovereign state, Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces of I ...

and

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

, flowing along the western side of County Roscommon. Together with the Shannon on the east, it creates the long narrow form of southern County Roscommon. The river rises in hills on the border of

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the yew trees") is a county in Ireland. In the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Counci ...

and

, and passes from

Lough O'Flynn Lough O'Flynn () is a freshwater lake in the west of Ireland. It is located in west County Roscommon and is the source of the River Suck. Name The name is from the Gaelic Irish tribe of the Ó Floinn, who ruled the region known as Síol Mael ...

in a general south and south-easterly direction. Settlements along the river include Athleague,

Ballinasloe Ballinasloe ( ; ) is a town in the easternmost part of County Galway in Connacht. Located at an ancient crossing point on the River Suck, evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of Bronze Age sites. Built around a 12th-ce ...

, Ballyforan, Ballymoe,

Castlerea Castlerea (; ) is the third largest town in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is located in the west of the county and had a population of 1,992 at the 2016 Census. Roughly translated from Irish, Castlerea is generally thought to mean 'brindled ca ...

, Glinsk, and Tulrush, and it flows into the

a kilometre south of the village of

Geography

The water is clean and unpolluted and the river flows through unspoilt countryside with moorland,

water meadows A water-meadow (also water meadow or watermeadow) is an area of grassland subject to controlled irrigation to increase agricultural productivity. Water-meadows were mainly used in Europe from the 16th to the early 20th centuries. Working water-m ...

and pastureland. Some stretches are fast-flowing while others are slow and meandering. There are abundant

bream Bream ( ) are species of freshwater and marine fish belonging to a variety of genera including '' Abramis'' (e.g., ''A. brama'', the common bream), '' Acanthopagrus'', ''Argyrops'', '' Blicca'', '' Brama'', '' Chilotilapia'', ''Etelis'', '' L ...

rudd ''Scardinius'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae commonly called rudds. Locally, the name "rudd" without any further qualifiers is also used for individual species, particularly the common rudd (''S. erythrophthalmus''). T ...

and

tench The tench or doctor fish (''Tinca tinca'') is a fresh- and brackish-water fish of the order Cypriniformes found throughout Eurasia from Western Europe including the British Isles east into Asia as far as the Ob and Yenisei Rivers. It is ...

in some parts, and

perch Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Per ...

and pike are also plentiful. To prevent flooding at Ballinasloe, a weir was erected in 1885 immediately above the four-arch bridge, with draw-doors which can be raised when there is an approaching flood.

Suck Valley Way

The Suck Valley Way is a

long-distance trail A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents exc ...

. It is a long circular route that begins and ends in Castlerea, County Roscommon. It is designated as a National Waymarked Trail by the National Trails Office of the

Irish Sports Council Sport Ireland ( ga, Spórt Éireann), formerly the Irish Sports Council, is a statutory authority that oversees, and partly funds, the development of sport within Ireland. It is located at the National Sports Campus in the townland of Sheephill ...

and is managed by

Roscommon County Council Roscommon County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Ros Comáin) is the authority responsible for local government in County Roscommon, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for ho ...

, Roscommon Integrated Development Company and the Suck Valley Committee.

References

External links