The falls
Ballysadare Falls is a grade 3–5 white-water drop in the middle of the village, and you can size it up from the road bridge before you commit to it. It doesn’t take much rain to bring the river up, and the falls are at their best in flood; a dry spell shrinks them to a modest step over the rock. If you only have a few minutes, the viewing platform at the falls gives you the whole thing safely, no scrambling down the bank.
The Ballysadare River is short – about 6 km from Collooney down to the village – but it carries a lot of water. Its three upland tributaries, the Unshin, the Owenmore and the Owenbeg, drain a catchment of roughly 650 km² that reaches back to Lough Arrow and Templehouse Lake, all of it funnelling over the falls and out into the tidal lagoon at Ballysadare Bay. The Irish name, Baile Easa Dara, means the town of the waterfall of the oak.
Yeats, and a river that used to work
‘Down by the Salley Gardens’ is said to have grown out of a ballad W.B. Yeats heard sung at the fair in Ballisodare, and the willow-lined banks give the song its setting (‘salley’ is an old word for the sallow willow). The falls are now a stop on the Yeats Trail, along with the viewing platform and Union Wood nearby.
The river was working long before it was scenic. The falls turned mill wheels and later generated the village’s electricity before the national grid reached this part of Sligo; a hydroelectric station still runs nearby.
Kayaking
The rapids are compact and serious. They start at the bridge and run about 2 km to the sea, graded 3 to 5 depending on the level. The main drop splits into two lines: the left is a straight 5-to-7-metre plunge that goes shallow and bony at low tide, and the right is a stepped line that comes into its own in high water. Watch for two small waves above the main drop on the stepped side; in flood they carry enough power to flip a boat or at least wreck your line.
One thing to plan around: the river empties into a tidal lagoon, so the tide changes the hydraulics at the base of the falls. Access is from the left bank only – the right bank is private fisheries land – so sort your put-in and take-out on that side, and park beside the graveyard on the left bank if you’re carrying a boat down.
Fishing
The deep pools below the falls have long held spring salmon from April and a heavy grilse run in June and July. Fishing on the whole Ballysadare system was suspended in July 2024 after more than a thousand adult salmon died, and it reopened that August under a new bye-law: catch-and-release only, for salmon and sea trout over 40 cm. Check Inland Fisheries Ireland for the current rules and licence requirements before you travel.
Getting there and parking
- Village car park, opposite the bridge – free, short-stay.
- Scott’s Corner car park – larger and free, with views out over Ballysadare Bay and Knocknarea.
- Beside the graveyard on the left bank – handiest for the falls and for kayakers carrying boats.
Ballysadare station sits on the Dublin–Sligo line but is closed to passengers, so you’ll be arriving by road.
Nearby
The river sits in one of the densest patches of prehistory in the country. Carrowmore megalithic cemetery and the great cairn on Knocknarea – said to hold Queen Maeve – are both a short drive off, and Lough Gill, Union Wood, the Knoxpark sculpture trail, St Féichín’s Abbey and Tobernalt Holy Well are all within easy reach.
Time a paddle or a photo for a day or two after heavy rain – that’s when the falls actually roar. Come in a dry week and you’ll wonder what the fuss was about.