Esker Riada

The Esker Riada (Irish: Eiscir Riada) is a system of eskers that stretch across the middle of Ireland, between Dublin and Galway.

The Esker Riada is a collection of eskers that passes through the counties of Dublin, Meath, Kildare, Westmeath, Offaly, Roscommon and 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 Maynooth, in the year 123 AD, the island of Ireland was divided into two political entities along the line of the eskers – ‘Leath Cuinn’ (‘Conn’s Half’) to the north, and ‘Leath Mogha’ (‘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 Gaelic name is ‘An tSlí Mhór’, meaning ‘The Great Way’.

The Great Highway provided a link between Durrow Abbey and the monastic settlement of Clonmacnoise, constructed at the point where the River Shannon passes through the Esker Riada.

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