River Derreen

River Derreen
Footbridge over the Derreen River near Hacketstown
EtymologyDiminutive of doire, Irish for grove, esp. oak[1]
Native nameAn Daoirín (Irish)
Location
CountryIreland
CitiesHacketstown, Tullow
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationLugnaquilla, County Wicklow
MouthRiver Slaney
 • location
Tullow, County Carlow
Length40 km (25 mi)
Basin size201.18 km2 (77.68 sq mi)

The River Derreen (Irish: An Daoirín) is a large river in the southeast of Ireland. It rises on the southern slopes of Lybagh and Slievemaan and flows southwest until it joins the River Slaney in County Carlow,[2] south of Tullow, passing close to Hacketstown and Tullow, County Carlow before it joins the Slaney upstream of Aghade bridge. Running through tillage and pastureland in its lower reaches, the Derreen with its sandy, gravelly bottom is a prime salmon spawning tributary of the Slaney. Passing through counties Wicklow and Carlow, it is the first large, major tributary of the River Slaney.

Towns on the Derreen include Hacketstown and Tullow. It is crossed mainly by old humpbacked stone bridges. It is a rural river, flowing through only 2 major towns.

  1. ^ "An Daoirín/Derreen River".
  2. ^ Joyce, Patrick Weston (1883). The geography of the counties of Ireland. London: George Philip & Son. p. 205.