Cronaniv Burn

The Cronaniv Burn (Irish: Abhainn Chró Nimhe, meaning 'Poisoned Glen River';^[1][2][3] the English name of the burn probably comes from the version Cró na Nimhe, meaning 'Hollow / Glen of the Poison'^[2]) is a burn or small river that flows through the Poisoned Glen in Gaoth Dobhair, a district in the north-west of County Donegal in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland.^[1][2][3][4] In the Ulster Scots dialect, a 'burn' is a stream or small river.^[5]

Cronaniv Burn
Etymology	Irish: Abhainn Chró Nimhe, meaning 'Poisoned Glen River'
Native name	Abhainn Chró Nimhe (Irish)
Location
Country	Ireland
Province	Ulster
County	County Donegal
Barony	Kilmacrenan
District	Gaoth Dobhair
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Derryveagh Mountains
Mouth
• location	Devlin River, flowing into Dunlewey Lough
• coordinates	55°00′58″N 8°06′35″W / 55.01600°N 8.10979°W / 55.01600; -8.10979
Basin features
River system	Clady River (Irish: An Chláidigh), which flows into the Crolly River (Gweedore River) beside Bunbeg Quay^[1]

Course

The Cronaniv Burn is quite a short burn. It rises in the mountains at the southern end of the Poisoned Glen (Irish: Cró Nimhe^[2]), these mountains being part of the Derryveagh Mountains.^[1] It then flows in a north-westerly direction for its entire course.^[1] The burn flows through the Poisoned Glen, flowing along the middle of the glen's floor.^[1][4] It flows along the southern edge of Dunlewey (Irish: Dún Lúiche), a village at the foot of Errigal (Irish: An Earagail).^[1] The burn then flows into the Devlin River (Irish: Abhainn Dhuibhlinne), joining that river very near its mouth, on the southern edge of Dunlewey. The Devlin River then flows on for a few hundred yards, flowing into Dunlewey Lough (Irish: Loch Dhún Lúiche), the river emptying into the south-eastern end of the lough.^[1]

Near the mouth of the Cronaniv Burn, beside where the burn meets the Devlin River, sits the ruins of Dunlewey Church of Ireland Church. This former church, located on the southern outskirts of Dunlewey, was built in the neo-Gothic style in the early 1850s.^[6][7][8][9] The building was formerly a 'chapel of ease' for the Church of Ireland Parish of Tullaghobegley. The church was finally closed in 1955, when its roof was removed, and has been derelict ever since.^[6][7][8][9]

References

1. Discovery Series Sheet 1 (Fourth Edition). Ordnance Survey of Ireland (O.S.I.), Dublin, 2012.
2. Patrick McKay, A Dictionary of Ulster Place-Names, p. 120. The Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, 1999.
3. Logainm.ie: Abhainn Chró Nimhe / Cronaniv Burn. https://www.logainm.ie/en/1395819?s=Cronaniv+Burn
4. '"Beating a retreat in Donegal" - Francis Bradley is reminded that there's no shame in turning back when conditions take a turn for the worse on a walk to Slieve Snaght via the Poisoned Glen' (The Irish Times, Saturday, 8 October 2011). https://www.irishtimes.com/1.614682
5. Patrick McKay, A Dictionary of Ulster Place-Names, p. 31 (see entries for 'Burnfoot' and 'Burntollet River') and p. 150. The Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, 1999.
6. Duncan McLaren, T.J. O'Meara and William Cumming, An Introduction to the Architectural Heritage of County Donegal, pp. 93-94 and p. 96 (and a photograph of the church was used on the front cover of this publication). N.I.A.H., Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Dublin, 2014.
7. Alistair Rowan, The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster (better known as the Pevsner Guide to North West Ulster), p. 270. Yale University Press, London, 2003 (originally published by Penguin Books, London, 1979). This publication claims that the church was built in 1844.
8. Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720-1940: Co. Donegal, Dunlewey, Church (CI). https://www.dia.ie/works/view/55777/CO.+DONEGAL%2C+DUNLEWEY%2C+CHURCH+%28CI+%29
9. We Love Donegal: Dunlewey Church of Ireland or The Old Church, Dunlewey. http://welovedonegal.com/old-church-dunlewey-poisoned-glen.html