The St Clare River was a natural branch of the Corrib that was, previous to human intervention, connected to the Gaol River which runs parallel to it. Several mills operated along the river and its extensions as it fed the Parkavera and Madeira Rivers and that also, following a diversion, drove the mills on Mill and Dominick Streets. The St Clare River was incorporated into the waterways network when the Eglinton Canal was constructed in the middle of the nineteenth century