river in Counties Wicklow, Kildare, and Dublin, Ireland, rising in the Wicklow Mountains, about 20 mi (32 km) southwest of Dublin. Following a tortuous course laid out in preglacial times, it flows in a generally northwesterly direction from its source to the Lackan Reservoir, the site of a gorge cut through the Slievethoul ridge. The river then runs westward in the Kildare lowland and gradually turns northwestward to Droichead Nua and northeast to Celbridge and Leixlip. It then flows eastward through the city of Dublin, in which it is extensively canalized and bordered with quays. It empties into Dublin Bay, an arm of the Irish Sea, after a course of 50 mi.