The Clady River ( Irish: ''An Chláidigh'', meaning 'the One Who Washes' or 'the Strong-Flowing One'Patrick McKay, ''A Dictionary of Ulster Place-Names'', p. 41. The Institute of Irish Studies,

The Queen's University of Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is St ...

, Belfast, 1999.) is a small river in

Gweedore Gweedore ( , officially known by its Irish language name, ) is a Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking) district, and parish, located on the Atlantic coast of County Donegal in the north-west of Ireland. It stretches some from Glasserchoo and Bloody For ...

(Irish: ''Gaoth Dobhair''), a district in the north-west of

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

, the northern

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

in Ireland.''Discovery Series'' Sheet 1 (Fourth Edition).

Ordnance Survey of Ireland Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSI; ) was the national mapping agency of the Republic of Ireland. It was established on 4 March 2002 as a body corporate. It was the successor to the former Ordnance Survey of Ireland. It and the Ordnance Survey of ...

(O.S.I.),

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, 2012.Angling Ireland: The Rivers Clady & Crolly (Gweedore). https://fishinginireland.info/salmon/north/clady-crolly/ The river flows entirely within the

Civil Parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Tullaghobegly (Irish: ''Tulacha Beigile'').

Course

The Clady River flows out of the western end of Lower Lough Nacung ( Irish: ''Loch na Cuinge Íochtarach'') in

. Lower Lough Nacung is immediately north-west of Upper Lough Nacung (Irish: ''Loch na Cuinge Uachtarach''). The Clady River mainly flows in a west-north-westerly direction for its entire course, flowing into the Crolly River (Irish: ''Abhainn Chroithlí''Patrick McKay, ''A Dictionary of Ulster Place-Names'', p. 50 and p. 80. The Institute of Irish Studies,

, Belfast, 1999.), also known as the Gweedore River, on the south-western outskirts of

Bunbeg ''An Bun Beag'' (anglicised as Bunbeg), meaning "the small river mouth", is a small Gaeltacht village and townland in County Donegal, Ireland. It is officially the smallest townland in ''Gaoth Dobhair'' (Gweedore), but today the name Bunbeg is ...

(Irish: ''An Bun Beag''). The river enters the Crolly River beside Bunbeg

Quay A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

, very near the Crolly River's mouth. This part of the Crolly River is known as ''An Gaoth'' ('The Inlet' or 'The Estuary'), and is effectively an inlet of the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

. The Clady River is about 5

miles The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of length; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English f ...

(around 8

kilometres The kilometre ( SI symbol: km; or ), spelt kilometer in American and Philippine English, is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand metres (kilo- being the SI prefix for ). It is the preferred measur ...

) in length. The N56 crosses the Clady River near its source, crossing it very near the western end of Lower Lough Nacung. The R257 crosses the river at Clady Bridge in Bunbeg. Almost all of the R258 runs alongside the Clady River, this road running along the river's right bank, from near the river's source to its mouth at Bunbeg Quay.

Hydroelectric scheme

In the second half of the 1950s, the E.S.B. built a

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

power station in

. ESB Archives: River Clady. https://esbarchives.ie/portfolio/river-clady/amp/ N.I.A.H.: Clady Hydroelectric Station, Arduns, Gweedore, Donegal. https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/40817003/clady-hydroelectric-power-station-dore-gweedore-donegal The power station, officially called Clady Power Station, is located in the

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

of Dore, and is just under two miles south-west of where the Clady River leaves Lower Lough Nacung.Townlands.ie: Dore Townland. https://www.townlands.ie/kilmacrenan/tulacha-beigile/magheraclogher/dore/ The station is powered by water diverted from the Clady River. A '

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 ...

' was built to carry the diverted water from the river, as it flowed out of Lower Lough Nacung, to the power station. The 'canal' branches off from the Clady River at the Gweedore

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 water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

. The 'spent water' from Clady Power Station then flows directly into the Crolly River, also known as the Gweedore River. This power station, which was built between 1954 and 1959, remains in use today.

References

{{reflist Rivers of Ireland