The River Dun, also known as the Glendun River (in Irish

Irish language

Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...

: Abhann Duinne, brown river) is a river in County Antrim

County Antrim

County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. It runs through Glendun

Glendun

Glendun translates into English as glen of the brown river and is one of the nine Glens of Antrim in County Antrim in Northern Ireland....

, one of the nine Glens of Antrim

Glens of Antrim

The Glens of Antrim , known locally as simply The Glens, is a region of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It comprises nine glens , that radiate from the Antrim Plateau to the coast. The Glens are an area of outstanding natural beauty and are a major tourist attraction in north Antrim...

. The river is named after its brown colour, which comes from the peat

Peat

Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...

 bog

Bog

A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....

s at its source on the slopes of Slievenanee on the Antrim Plateau. The source of the river is a few hundred metres from that of the River Bush

River Bush

The River Bush is a river in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The river's source is in the Antrim Hills at 480m. From there the river flows northwest, with a bend at the town of Armoy. It then flows west, passing through Stranocum, and then bends north, passing through Bushmills before reaching...

, which flows north-east to meet the sea at Bushmills

Bushmills

Bushmills is a village on the north coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Bushmills had 1,319 inhabitants in the 2001 Census. It is located 95 km from Belfast, 10 km from Ballycastle and 15 km from Coleraine...

. Cushendun

Cushendun

Cushendun is a small coastal village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits off the A2 coast road between Cushendall and Ballycastle. It has a sheltered harbour and lies at the mouth of the River Dun and Glendun, one of the nine Glens of Antrim. The Mull of Kintyre in Scotland is only about...

 (Bun Abhann Duinne, "foot of the River Dun" in Irish

Irish language

Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...

 – although the English name derives from Cois Abhann Duinne, "beside the River Dun") is a small coastal resort town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 lying at the mouth of the River Dun and Glendun.

Glendun Viaduct

The river is spanned by a three arched viaduct completed by Charles Lanyon

Charles Lanyon

Sir Charles Lanyon DL, JP was an English architect of the 19th century. His work is most closely associated with Belfast, Northern Ireland.-Biography:Lanyon was born in Eastbourne, Sussex in 1813...

 in 1839. Glendun Viaduct, known locally as the Big Bridge, spans the river in the centre of the glen. It was built between 1834 and 1839, though no work was done during the winter months. The stones were quarried in Layde, taken by boat to Cushendun and then transported by cart to the bridge site.

Angling

The river supports a population of brown trout

Brown trout

The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....

 which rarely attain weights exceeding one pound due to the naturally acidic

Acid

An acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...

 chemistry of the water. Sea trout and salmon

Salmon

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...

 enter the river and make their way to the upstream spawning

Spawn (biology)

Spawn refers to the eggs and sperm released or deposited, usually into water, by aquatic animals. As a verb, spawn refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, also called spawning...

 beds from July onwards. Eel

Eel

Eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 20 families, 111 genera and approximately 800 species. Most eels are predators...

s are also present.