Abbeyleix Stream
Abbeyleix stream rises at Macs well in Ballymaddock and is piped to springs at Aughfirish and then piped to the old main reservoir beside the Gateway to Heaven graveyard. Our stream is formed from the runoff from the reservoir. It is then shored down the Carlow road to Main Street where it was open until the 1940s when it was covered in.
It continues down Main street and crosses over to the Ballacolla Road at Blairgowrie where it can be seen again. It crosses the road again at the Wingfield fountain and goes around Station wood to Oldtown where it joins a millrace into Abbeyleix Demense where it powered a mill, now defunct, and discharges into the river Nore.
1- The main stream rises at Macs well in Ballymaddock on the Carlow rd. It is piped around a hill to give a gravity flow to the main reservoir for the town for many years but is no longer in use. The run off from the reservoir becomes the stream.
2 - The main reservoir for the town which is no longer in use as a new reservoir has been built further up the hill'.
3 - A sluice was fitted here where the stream splits to balance the flow of water to both streams. Here it is joined by the run off water from the five wells reservoir.
4 - The five wells is the oldest reservoir in town. It was built by the DeVesci family to provide spring water to the estate and a limited supply to the new town. It is supplied by five springs, hence the name.
5 - The stream supplies water to an ornamental pond in Allworth House known locally as the swimming pool as the young ladies in Glenban academy used it as such.
6 /7 - This part of the stream was open until the 1940s before it was covered over. the Increase of motor cars on the roads was cited as the reason. Apparently they used to drive into it a lot.
11 - The second part of that stream flowed behind the Workhouse and filled an underground cistern in Woodville before joining up with the main stream on lower Main Street.
8 - The upper stream rises in Oatlands and flows through the golf club before filling a pond in the convent yard.
9 - The pond in the convent yard was used for the animals to drink and to wash the vegetables for the convent kitchens.
10- this shows the old course of the upper stream before it was diverted out onto Main Street in the 1930s.
12-13 This is the only area where the stream can be viewed by the public