Overview
The Owenglin runs right through the middle of Clifden, and for most of the year it is an ordinary-looking town river. Then it rains for two days straight, the river ‘tanks’, and the waterfall below the town centre turns into a Grade V drop that expert kayakers travel for. That is the Owenglin’s split personality: a serious whitewater river when it is in flood, and a quiet walking-and-fishing river the rest of the time, off the valleys of the Twelve Bens and down through the capital of Connemara in County Galway.
Clifden Falls and the upper river
The falls sit just downstream of the town centre – a single drop reckoned at around 15 feet (accounts vary), graded V, runnable only when the river is high after sustained rain. The line is unforgiving: paddlers describe a precise, sideways entry onto a diagonal shelf on the river-right, using the cushion wave to cross the face and land on the left. The centre slot and the right-hand side both drop vertically onto rock and are off-limits, and the landing is shallow. In medium or low water the whole thing is a hazard, not a run.
Above the falls, the upper Owenglin gives more than 9 km of paddling in three sections – Forest, Upper and Simon’s Falls – mostly Grade III with some IV–V drops, winding through forestry and open country. It is technical throughout. For the upper river, park at the back of the housing estate on the right about 1.5 km before Clifden on the N59 coming from Galway, and follow the signposted path to the falls; the usual take-out is the bridge on the N59 just outside town.
Check the Irish Whitewater river guide and the upstream gauge before you commit to a descent, wear a helmet and dry suit, and set safety on the bank first. This is not a river to read about and then go and try.
Walks
No kayak? The riverside path through Clifden follows the Owenglin down toward the bay, an easy flat stroll with the Twelve Bens behind you. For a view worth the effort, walk up to the D’Arcy Monument above the town – about 12 minutes from the centre to the trail entrance, then a short, steep five-minute climb. One warning: there is no footpath along that stretch of road, so take real care with traffic. The monument remembers John D’Arcy, who founded Clifden in the early 1800s, and it looks straight down over the town and the river.
Fishing
The Owenglin is a spate river with salmon, sea trout and brown trout; the grilse arrive with the first floods in June and the average fish is small. Permits come from Stanley’s Fishing Tackle in Clifden, who look after the Clifden Angling Association water. Fly, worm and prawn are allowed – no spinning – and there is no fishing between the Ardbear New Bridge and the Ardbear Old Bridge on or after 15 May. Salmon season runs 1 February to 30 September, sea trout from 1 June to September, and brown trout from 15 February to 12 October.
Practical information
- Getting there: Bus Éireann runs between Galway city and Clifden, stopping on the main street a few minutes’ walk from the river.
- Parking: town-centre parking is limited; for the upper-river put-in, use the housing-estate access on the N59 described above.
- When to go: the walks are good year-round, and best with morning mist on the water. Whitewater is weather-dependent – autumn and winter, after sustained rain.
- In town: Clifden has toilets, cafés, pubs and shops within a few minutes of the river.
Nearby
- Sky Road: a 16 km coastal loop out of Clifden with big views over the bay and the Twelve Bens; the narrow upper road has the best of it.
- Connemara National Park: a short drive north, with Diamond Hill and waymarked trails for all levels. Read more in our guide to National Parks.
- Derrygimlagh: the bog just south of town where Alcock and Brown crash-landed the first non-stop transatlantic flight in 1919, beside the ruins of Marconi’s 1905 wireless station.
If you only do one thing here, walk up to the D’Arcy Monument for the view over the river and the bay – twenty minutes, and the best vantage in Clifden. Save the falls for a day the river is in flood, and only if you know what you are doing on Grade V.