the Guinness trustees to Frank Bailey, a Galway hotelier. Lough Corrib is the anglicised form of Loch Coirib which itself is a corruption of Loch nOrbsean which, according to placename lore, is named after the Irish god of the sea. There is good fishing to be had on both the lake and river. Ptolemy's Geography (2nd century AD) described a river called Αυσοβα (Ausoba) which probably referred to the River Corrib. Upper and Lower Corrib The part of the river that flows from the southern end of the lake to the Salmon Weir is known as the Upper Corrib. The weir, a set of weir gates also built during the above navigation scheme, was originally built from stone and timber but now only two of these gates remain and are only opened in times of flood. The rest have been replaced by fourteen steel gates, as shown in the photograph above. The main channel leaving Lough Corrib is called Friars' Cut or Friars' River () as it is the result of a very early piece of canal engineering. In 1178 the friars of Claregalway Abbey, being tired of the long detour they had to make to the west to enter the river, asked permission from the Blakes of Menloe to make an artificial cut, which in time became the main course of the river and was then widened. The section of the river that runs from the Salmon Weir through Galway city and out into Galway Bay is known as the Lower Corrib. Three bridges cross the Lower – the Salmon Weir Bridge, William O'Brien Bridge and Wolfe Tone Bridge. The only tributary of the Lower Corrib is Sruthán na gCaisleáin (Castle Stream) known by whitewater kayakers as the Shit Chute and the access point to the river, a small stream that flows through Newcastle, the grounds of NUI Galway, and empties into the Lower just downstream of King's weir, commonly known as the fish gates. The official publication for NUI Galway Alumni, Staff & Friends, Cois Coiribe, is named in reference to the Corrib. Bridges Four bridges span Corrib in Galway. These are the Wolfe Tone Bridge, the William O'Brien Bridge, the Salmon Weir Bridge, and the Quincentenary Bridge. See also Rivers of Ireland List of rivers in Ireland List of loughs in Ireland References External links Lower Corrib River Guide Canoeing at O'Brien's Bridge, Galway Surfing O'Brien's Wave