Esker Riada, , is a system of ridges that stretch across the narrowest point of
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
, between
DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
and
GalwayGalway is the fastest growing and is the fifth largest city in Ireland and the only city in the province of Connacht. The city is located on the west coast of Ireland...
.
The Esker Riada is a collection of
eskerAn esker is a long winding ridge of stratified sand and gravel, examples of which occur in glaciated and formerly glaciated regions of Europe and North America...
s, that passes through the counties of
DublinCounty Dublin , or more correctly today the Dublin Region , is the area that contains the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland as well as the largest city on the island of Ireland; and the modern counties of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin. The Dublin Regional Authority is the...
,
MeathCounty Meath is one of the traditional counties of Ireland and is located within the province of Leinster. It was named after the historic kingdom and province of Mide....
,
KildareCounty Kildare is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the province of Leinster and was named after the town of Kildare . Kildare is the 25th largest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and ninth largest in terms of population...
,
WestmeathCounty Westmeath is one of the traditional counties of Ireland and is located within the province of Leinster.Westmeath is the 23rd largest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and 22nd largest in terms of population. It is the sixth largest of Leinster’s 12 counties in size and eighth largest in...
,
OffalyCounty Offaly is one of the traditional counties of Ireland and is located within the province of Leinster. It was named after the of Kingdom of Uí Failghe. Offaly is the 18th largest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and 23rd largest in terms of population...
,
RoscommonCounty Roscommon is one of the traditional counties of Ireland and is located within the province of Connacht. It was named after the town of Roscommon. The county covers an area of ....
and
GalwayCounty Galway is one of the traditional Counties of Ireland. It is located in the province of Connacht. It was named after the city of Galway...
. A large remnant of the Esker exists in the Teernacreeve region of Westmeath, and stretches from Kilbeggan to Tyrrellspass.
The eskers take the form of relatively low-lying ridges composed of sand, gravel and boulders; deposited by water flowing beneath a glacier; that became exposed when the glacier melted at the end of the last ice age, around 10,000 years ago.
The Irish name 'Eiscir Riada' provides an indication of the significance of the eskers, 'Eiscir' meaning 'divide' and 'Riada' meaning 'road'.
Following a battle at
MaynoothMaynooth is a university town located in north County Kildare, Ireland, home to both a branch of the National University of Ireland and a Papal University and Ireland's main Roman Catholic seminary, St. Patrick's College...
, in the year 123 AD, the island of Ireland was divided into two political entities along the line of the eskers – ‘
Leath CuinnLeath Cuinn and Leath Moga refers to an ancient division of Ireland.Leath Cuinn was the island north of the Esker Riada . Conn Cétchathach, for whom this division is named, was a retrospective ancestor of the Connachta and Uí Néill dynasties.As a result of the battle of Maigh Nuadad in A.D...
’ (‘Conn’s Half’) to the north, and ‘
Leath MoghaLeath Cuinn and Leath Moga refers to an ancient division of Ireland.Leath Cuinn was the island north of the Esker Riada . Conn Cétchathach, for whom this division is named, was a retrospective ancestor of the Connachta and Uí Néill dynasties.As a result of the battle of Maigh Nuadad in A.D...
’ (‘Mogha’s Half’) to the south.
Because the slightly higher ground of the Esker Riada provided a route through the bogs of the Irish midlands it has, since ancient times, formed a highway joining the east and west of Ireland.
Esker Riada, , is a system of ridges that stretch across the narrowest point of
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
, between
DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
and
GalwayGalway is the fastest growing and is the fifth largest city in Ireland and the only city in the province of Connacht. The city is located on the west coast of Ireland...
.
Geography
The Esker Riada is a collection of
eskerAn esker is a long winding ridge of stratified sand and gravel, examples of which occur in glaciated and formerly glaciated regions of Europe and North America...
s, that passes through the counties of
DublinCounty Dublin , or more correctly today the Dublin Region , is the area that contains the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland as well as the largest city on the island of Ireland; and the modern counties of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin. The Dublin Regional Authority is the...
,
MeathCounty Meath is one of the traditional counties of Ireland and is located within the province of Leinster. It was named after the historic kingdom and province of Mide....
,
KildareCounty Kildare is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the province of Leinster and was named after the town of Kildare . Kildare is the 25th largest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and ninth largest in terms of population...
,
WestmeathCounty Westmeath is one of the traditional counties of Ireland and is located within the province of Leinster.Westmeath is the 23rd largest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and 22nd largest in terms of population. It is the sixth largest of Leinster’s 12 counties in size and eighth largest in...
,
OffalyCounty Offaly is one of the traditional counties of Ireland and is located within the province of Leinster. It was named after the of Kingdom of Uí Failghe. Offaly is the 18th largest of Ireland’s 32 counties in area and 23rd largest in terms of population...
,
RoscommonCounty Roscommon is one of the traditional counties of Ireland and is located within the province of Connacht. It was named after the town of Roscommon. The county covers an area of ....
and
GalwayCounty Galway is one of the traditional Counties of Ireland. It is located in the province of Connacht. It was named after the city of Galway...
. A large remnant of the Esker exists in the Teernacreeve region of Westmeath, and stretches from Kilbeggan to Tyrrellspass.
The eskers take the form of relatively low-lying ridges composed of sand, gravel and boulders; deposited by water flowing beneath a glacier; that became exposed when the glacier melted at the end of the last ice age, around 10,000 years ago.
Historical Significance
The Irish name 'Eiscir Riada' provides an indication of the significance of the eskers, 'Eiscir' meaning 'divide' and 'Riada' meaning 'road'.
Following a battle at
MaynoothMaynooth is a university town located in north County Kildare, Ireland, home to both a branch of the National University of Ireland and a Papal University and Ireland's main Roman Catholic seminary, St. Patrick's College...
, in the year 123 AD, the island of Ireland was divided into two political entities along the line of the eskers – ‘
Leath CuinnLeath Cuinn and Leath Moga refers to an ancient division of Ireland.Leath Cuinn was the island north of the Esker Riada . Conn Cétchathach, for whom this division is named, was a retrospective ancestor of the Connachta and Uí Néill dynasties.As a result of the battle of Maigh Nuadad in A.D...
’ (‘Conn’s Half’) to the north, and ‘
Leath MoghaLeath Cuinn and Leath Moga refers to an ancient division of Ireland.Leath Cuinn was the island north of the Esker Riada . Conn Cétchathach, for whom this division is named, was a retrospective ancestor of the Connachta and Uí Néill dynasties.As a result of the battle of Maigh Nuadad in A.D...
’ (‘Mogha’s Half’) to the south.
Because the slightly higher ground of the Esker Riada provided a route through the bogs of the Irish midlands it has, since ancient times, formed a highway joining the east and west of Ireland. Indeed, its ancient
GaelicIrish is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now only spoken natively by a small minority of the Irish population but also plays an important symbolic role in the life of the Irish state, and is used...
name is ‘An Slí Mór’, meaning ‘The Great Highway’.
The Great Highway provided a link between
Durrow AbbeyDurrow Abbey is a historic site located off the N52 some 5 miles from Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland.To this day, the site remains a largely undisturbed early historic and medieval monastic site containing a complex of archaeological monuments, ecclesiastical and secular, visible and sub-surface...
and the monastic settlement of
ClonmacnoiseThe monastery of Clonmacnoise is situated in County Offaly, Ireland on the River Shannon south of Athlone. It was visited by the Pope in 1979. The site can be visited for a fee, via an Interpretative Centre...
, constructed at the point where the
River ShannonThe River Shannon is, at 386 km , the longest river in Ireland. It divides the west of Ireland from the east and south . County Clare, being west of the Shannon but part of the province of Munster, is the major exception...
passes through the Esker Riada.
In contrast with the surrounding boglands, the glacial sands typical of the eskers provided well drained and relatively good quality land, proving useful in agricultural terms.
Present Day
To this day, the Esker Riada continues to serve as a highway, the main N6
DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
to
GalwayGalway is the fastest growing and is the fifth largest city in Ireland and the only city in the province of Connacht. The city is located on the west coast of Ireland...
road still closely following it; and much agricultural activity still takes place along its length.
The eskers have become a valued source of building material, with sand and gravel extraction being commonplace. However, the negative environmental impact of such operations is now being realized and this, along with a developing awareness of the ridge’s natural beauty and its significance in Ireland’s history, has led to increasing restrictions. Indeed, Offaly County has moved to give the ridge protection in its County Development Plan, and has gone so far as to press to have the Esker Riada recognized as a
World Heritage SiteA UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site that is on the list that is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 state parties which are elected by their General Assembly for a four-year term.A World Heritage Site is a...
.
The large stretch of the Esker Riada that exists in the Teernacreeve region of Westmeath belongs to the Seery family. It and its surrounding woodland are guarded by the young swordsman Ben Seery. This particular stretch of broken eskers starts at Cuilnamayor Bog and ends at Lough Swallow, and is sometimes called Split Hill or Terrycrew.