Nenagh River or Abhainn Ghaotach  - An Ghaothach (The river of Geagh) to give it's Irish name. The River rises on the northern slopes of Knocknasreggan in the Tipperary Mountains around Curreeny and flows north skirting East around Cooneen Hill and creating some torrents at Pol na Nas. It continues North through Falleeny, Loughnane and Templederry. It then turns North through Glenmore before turning West at Tiermoyle. The river flows on through bypassing Kylebeg  and Ballinaclough where it is joined by the Dolla River. Meanwhile before this it has an identity crisis and changes it's name to the Annagh River. Leaving Ballynaclough as the Nenagh river once again it heads heads towards Tyone and Lisbunny on the outskirts of Nenagh bypassing the remains of Monasteries, Churches and mills giving voice to how important the river was. The river bypasses a Holy Well at Lisatunny. At this point it is joined by the Clareen Stream which is partially enclosed in Nenagh itself. The Clareen surfaces near the swimming pool and joins the Nenagh River. It flows on past Kyleragh where it is then joined from the west by the Ollatrim River. From here it meanders by St Johns well and Scotts Mill at Ballyvillane. Further roads and bridges cross the river at Ballyanny and Ballyartella where there is a substantial weir. Onwards it flows towards Annaghbeg.

Nenagh River finally enters Lough Derg at Dromineer Bay.

It is worth noting that from the Cooneen Hill Valley onwards are to be found numerous Megalithic sites whether they be Ring barrows, Standing Stones or even ruined Churches many of which appear to drawn to the river as if by magnet and congregate near the river.

Curreeny

Templederry

Nenagh River at Ballyknock, Templederry

Nenagh River at Cloghinch, Templederry

Kylebeg Upper

Ballinaclough

Tyone

The Clareen Stream

The Clareen Stream is partially enclosed as it flows under Nenagh near the Creamery and Lower Barrack Street it re-surfaces near the swimming pool where it joins with the Nenagh River

Dredging the river

Lunchtime after dredging the river

The "improvers" of the 1950's who dredged the river destroying cascades, weirs and other features and turning the river into the semblance of a canal. The stills from a cinefilm made at the time capture some of this great work. Curiously they didn't identify one weir, ford or crossing place and all were destroyed by machine leaving only the memories alluded to in histories. The spoil heaps were heaped on the banks and can still be seen. One wonders how much of Bennets Flowery Vale ended up thus. To add insult to injury the towns sewage farm was built at Kyleragh and the treated effluent discharged into the river from there.

Kyleragh Bridge

Scotts Bridge & St Johns Well (Ballyvillane)

The rebuilding of an earlier bridge and built around 1725, Scotts Bridge is comprised of two central arches flanked by two lower segmental arches. It is now disused having been replaced by a newer bridge and straighter road to the side. Just off it, St John's Well was always a place of pilgrimage and a frequent venue for Sunday afternoon outings

St John the Baptist's well with votive offerings hanging from string, sadly a practice that had disappeared when I was growing up. However you would find the odd St Christopher or BVM medal in the well water. The Pattern day is June 24th. Not to be confused with St John the Evangelist whose feast day is 27th of December.

The original bridge. Nenagh has two such disused bridges. One at Dublin Road and this one at Scotts

The replacement bridge, functional and lacking in elegance of it's predecessor

Ballyanny

Ballyanny, the place of the Fair, according to folklore once known as Hughs Town, there used to be a village here but this has long since disappeared. There are still the ruins of a sizeable mill to be found on the banks of the river. There was a plan mooted in 2004 to convert the ruins to apartments but it was refused permission.

A gap in the Wall to facilitate pedestrians and to keep cattle inside the field. This arrow points the way to the Sli Eala River walk.

Ballyartella - (Baile Uí Artaíle) - (Balyartely, Balliartile) 

Another old bridge, another Mill and the remains of a Tower House, Ballyartella offers many photo opportunities.

Logainm.ie has its name deriving from a South Leinster family of O'Hartleys, thus Hartleys Town or Baile Ui Artaile. This was before the Norman invasion although any Nenagh man would pose the question what were Wexford men doing in North Tipperary?

Here at a glance we can see the effects of the Famine on the local population. If you compare the Persons column for 1841 with that of 1881 we can see a drastic drop in population. Thus Ballyartella was 137 in 1841 and had fallen to 31 by 1881

Ballyartella Bridge, built circa 1720 by local craftsmen. Cutwaters clearly visible to break the force of the water. The bridge also incorporates triangular pedestrian refuges inset in the stonework

Close-ups of the fascinating colonies of Lichen that have made their home on the rusty ironwork of the weir

Hanlys Mills before the house and Mill were destroyed in the disastrous fire of 1952. Originally a disused flour mill, Denis Hanly set up a woollen mill on the premises in 1893. Here the local fleeces were carded, spun and woven. After the fire Hanlys concentrated solely on weaving producing high quality and heirloom worthy products.  (Pics: Hanlys Mills)

Annaghbeg

This bridge of seven arches was built around 1750 from rubble limestone. Its a testament to the workmanship that it still stands today

Muskrat