The Lyreen River () is a small river in

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, 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 gove ...

, Ireland, a tributary of the Rye River (Ryewater), and ultimately of the

River Liffey The River Liffey (Irish language, Irish: ''An Life'', historically ''An Ruirthe(a)ch'') is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major Tributary, tributaries include t ...

Name

The Irish name ''Laidhrín'' is

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...

of ''ladhar'', meaning "

fork In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods either to h ...

". The Anglicised form is first recorded as ''Leyrin'' in ''The Civil Survey A.D. 1654–56, vol. viii county of Kildare''.

Course

The Lyreen forms from branches near Corcoranstown, some distance north of Donadea. Its first substantial tributary is the Baltracey River, joining at Graiguelin. The Baltracey comes from Donadea, including a line from Donadea Forest Park, and later a stream from Loughtown, then the Clonshanbo River, followed by other streams, from Moortown and from Rathcoffey and Raheen. The Lyreen then flows through Derrinstown, and under the M4 between Treadstown and Crinstown, meeting another tributary just south of the railway line as it reaches the edge of

Maynooth Maynooth (; ) is a university town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to Maynooth University (part of the National University of Ireland and also known as the National University of Ireland, Maynooth) and St Patrick's College, Maynoo ...

. It flows within the grounds of

St Patrick's College, Maynooth St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth (), is a pontifical Catholic university in the town of Maynooth near Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mou ...

and the South Campus of

Maynooth University Maynooth University (MU) (), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. Maynooth University was formerly known as National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ). It was Ireland ...

. As it enters college lands, a mill race separates, which formerly powered the Manor Mills complex; this merges back in between the college and the Manor Mills Centre. The Lyreen then passes Maynooth Castle, built at its confluence with the Joan Slade (or Owenslade) River. The Joan Slade River originates south of the Royal Canal, under which it flows near Bond Bridge, after which it flows along Parsons Street and by the castle. Running north-east, behind the house's of Maynooth's Main Street, the Lyreen receives the Meadowbrook Stream (also known as the Rowanstown River and Roosk Stream), which comes from townlands south of the canal, and flows in culvert by Straffan Road, visible on the approach to the town square. The Lyreen bends away from Main Street and flows towards the Carton Demesne. Receiving the Maws or Crewhill Stream, it passes three artificial fishing ponds, then flows into the Rye River.Ordnance Survey Maps (https://www.osi.ie/)

Wildlife

The Lyreen has a modest fish population, with seven species detected in 2011, primarily

minnow Minnow is the common name for a number of species of small freshwater fish, belonging to several genus, genera of the family Cyprinidae and in particular the subfamily Leuciscinae. They are also known in Ireland as wikt:pinkeen, pinkeens. While ...

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a species of salmonid ray-finned fish and the most widely distributed species of the genus ''Salmo'', endemic to most of Europe, West Asia and parts of North Africa, and has been widely introduced globally ...

and

stone loach The stone loach (''Barbatula barbatula'') is a European species of fresh water ray-finned fish in the family Nemacheilidae. It is one of nineteen species in the genus '' Barbatula''. Stone loaches live amongst the gravel and stones of fast flowi ...

. The Baltracey held four species in the same study, primarily

stickleback The sticklebacks are a family of ray-finned fishes, the Gasterosteidae which have a Holarctic distribution in fresh, brackish and marine waters. They were thought to be related to the pipefish and seahorses but are now thought to be more close ...

. In the angle of the confluence of the Lyreen and the Rye Water, a coarse fishing and carp fishery was built, with two ponds added to an already existing angling pond.

Environment

As of 2011, the Lyreen was at an environmental status of "moderate", as was the Baltracey tributary.

Name

Course

Wildlife

Environment

See also

References

Further reading