Waterfall

WATERFALL AT LEIXLIP SPA AND PLENTY OF WHITETHORN

You may notice many hawthorn trees [whitethorn] in my photographs so I should mention that traditionally, no one cuts the lone hawthorn tree as this is the meeting places of the fairies. Through history many planned roads and pathways were re-routed to avoid cutting one down. Hawthorn is generally seen as a tree which brings good luck to the owner and prosperity to the land where it stands. My family always referred to them as May Bushes.

I actually went to the wrong location so did not manage to photograph the actual spa but I will visit again within a few days.

The waterfall was not very exciting exciting and as there had been a thunder storm just before I arrived the ground was very slippy and muddy in the immediate area.

The Leixlip Spa situated close to the Royal Canal, Ireland at Louisa Bridge was discovered in 1793 by a group of workmen excavating for the canal. William Conolly, who acquired Leixlip Castle in 1732, planned to develop the spa into a classical thermal spa, but to no avail.

The spa waters bubble from the ground at a constant 23.9 degrees Celsius (75 degrees F) and drain into the Rye River below. The spa was widely used over the years[when?] but since the 1960s it has fallen into disrepair. To preserve the spa, a committee was set up from members of Leixlip Town Council, Kildare County Council, An Taisce, Duchas and the Irish National History Museum.