Carryduff River


The Carryduff River is a minor river in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is a direct tributary of the River Lagan and is not navigable. It is a frequent bathing spot for the local Killinure population due to the low availability of running water in that area.

Course

The river rises in Killinure townland, in the boggy ground at the northern base of Ouley Hill, and is fed by numerous drainage ditches as it passes through the farmland to the south of the town of Carryduff. From here it passes beside Knockbracken open reservoir and flows north down through a gap in the Castlereagh Hills, renamed Purdy's Burn. It then flows into the Lagan Valley, and joins the River Lagan at Minnowburn.
The Carryduff River has been covered over and encased in a pipe for some of its urban stretches.

Settlements and routes

The original village of Carryduff grew up at the point where the routes south out of Belfast to Downpatrick and Newcastle, and the east-west routes from Hillsborough to the head of Strangford Lough, all met at the Carryduff River.

Water quality

Its water quality has been rated as BAD by the Dept of the Environment's water service.