Where does Castlereagh River begin?
Castlereagh River
The Castlereagh rises 20km west of Coonabarabran in the heart of the Warrumbungle mountains[1] at an elevation of about 850 metres.[4] From its commencement upstream in the mountains the river initially flows east through the town of Coonabarabran. It then arcs round south and southwesterly to the village of Ulamambri, then south to Binnaway, and SSW to the small town of Mendooran which lies at the eastern side of the river's hook-shape. From here the Castlereagh flows in a westerly direction at the flattened bottom of the hook and then turns north-westerly towards the town of Gilgandra. From Gilgandra it continues to run northwesterly across the plains through Gulargambone and Coonamble, then continuing across expansive plains, with no urban centres, where elevations are less than 200m, until it joins the Macquarie River at its uppermost reaches beyond the Macquarie Marshes. Its confluence with the Macquarie is about 65km SW of Walgett.[2] Not far from the Castlereagh/Macquarie confluence the Macquarie itself joins the Barwon River at a place about halfway between Walgett and Brewarrina.[5][4]
Castlefin
Founded by women Castlefinn is in the parish of Donaghmore, barony of Raphoe, 4.5 miles from Lifford. Its name translates from the castle on the banks of the river Finn, the stones from the castle were used in the construction of the bridge that still stands today, and at the close of Elizabeth I’s reign it belonged to Sir Niall Garbh O’Donnell. It is situated on the river Finn, which is navigable to the River Foyle for vessels of 14 tons’ burden, is on the road from Strabane to Stranorlar and in 1837 consisted of a single street, with a Roman Catholic chapel.Castlefinn railway station opened on 7 September 1863, but finally closed on 1 January 1960.
A number of buses pass through Castlefinn on a daily basis going to Letterkenny, Derry, Strabane, Dublin, Sligo and Galway.