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List of rivers of Ireland facts for kids

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This is an alphabetical list of the main rivers on the island of Ireland. It includes rivers that flow through the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Rivers that flow through Northern Ireland are marked with an asterisk (*). There are over 70,000 km of waterways in the Republic of Ireland contained in 3,192 river water bodies including rivers, streams, and tributaries. The major rivers have their length (in miles and kilometres) given. Also shown are two tables. Table 1 shows the longest rivers in Ireland with their lengths (in miles and kilometres), the counties they flow through, and their catchment areas (in km2). Table 2 shows the largest rivers in Ireland (by mean flow) in cubic meters per second.

Ireland physical medium
Some of the larger or better known rivers of Ireland are shown on this map (large version).

Longest Irish Rivers (with Basin areas)

Lengths obtained from the Ordnance Survey of Ireland: Rivers and their Catchment Basins 1958 (Table of Reference), and for the rivers Bann and Erne - Notes on River Basins by Robert A. Williams

River Counties Length Basin Area
1 River Shannon (including estuary and flow through lakes)a Cavan, Leitrim, Roscommon, Longford, Westmeath, Galway, Offaly,

Tipperary, Clare, Limerick, Kerry

 360 km (224 mi) 16,800 km2
2 River Barrowb Laois, Kildare, Kilkenny, Carlow,

Wexford, Waterford

 192 km (119 mi) 3,067 km2
3 River Suirb Tipperary, Waterford, Kilkenny, Wexford 184 km (114.5 mi) 3,610 km2
4 River Blackwater (Munster) Kerry, Cork, Waterford 168 km (104.5 mi) 3,324 km2
5 River Bann (including flow through L. Neagh)c Down, Armagh, Antrim, Londonderry 159 km (99 mi) 5,808 km2
6 River Noreb Tipperary, Laois, Kilkenny 140 km (87 mi) 2,530 km2
7 River Suck (Shannon) Roscommon, Galway 133 km (83 mi) 1,600 km2
8 River Liffey Wicklow, Kildare, Dublin 132 km (82 mi) 1,256 km2
9 River Erne Cavan, Fermanagh, Donegal 129 km (80 mi) 4,372 km2
10 River Foyle (including Rivers Mourne, Strule & Camowen) Tyrone, Londonderry, Donegal 129 km (80 mi) 2,925 km2
11 River Slaney Wicklow, Carlow, Wexford 117 km (73 mi) 1,762 km2
12 River Boyne Kildare, Offaly, Meath, Louth 113 km (70 mi) 2,695 km2
13 River Moy Sligo, Mayo 101 km (62.5 mi) 2,086 km2
14 River Clare (Corrib)d Mayo, Roscommon, Galway 93 km (58 mi) 1,108 km2
15 River Blackwater (Ulster) (Bann) c Tyrone, Monaghan, Armagh 92 km (57 mi) 1,507 km2
16t River Inny (Shannon) Cavan, Longford, Westmeath 89 km (55.5 mi) 1,254 km2
16t River Lee Cork 89 km (55.5 mi) 1,253 km2
18 River Lagan Down, Antrim 86 km (53.5 mi) 565 km2
19 River Brosna (Shannon) Westmeath, Offaly 79 km (49 mi) 1,248 km2
20 River Laune (includes Lough Leane and River Flesk) Kerry 76 km (47.25 mi) 829 km2
21 River Feale (Shannon) Cork, Limerick, Kerry 74 km (46 mi) 1,170 km2
22 River Bandon Cork 72 km (45 mi) 608 km2
23 River Blackwater (Boyne) Cavan, Meath 68 km (42.5 mi) 733 km2
24 River Annalee (Erne) Monaghan, Cavan 66.8 km (41.75 mi) 522 km2
25 River Bride (M. Blackwater) Cork, Waterford 64 km (40 mi) 419 km2
26 Boyle River (including Lung River) (Shannon) Mayo, Sligo, Roscommon 64 km (40 mi) 725 km2
27 River Deel (Shannon) Cork, Limerick 63.2 km (39.5 mi) 481 km2
28 River Robe (Corrib)d Mayo 62.8 km (39.25 mi) 320 km2
29 River Finn (County Donegal) (Foyle) Donegal, Tyrone 62.8 km (39.25 mi) 505 km2
30 River Maigue (Shannon) Cork, Limerick 62 km (38.75 mi) 1,000 km2
31 Fane River Monaghan, Armagh, Louth 61.2 km (38.25 mi) 350 km2
32 Ballisodare River Sligo 60.8 km (38 mi) 650 km2
33 River Dee (Louth) Cavan, Meath, Louth 60.4 km (37.75 mi) 392 km2
34 River Fergus (Shannon) Clare 58.4 km (36.5 mi) 1,043 km2
35 Little Brosna River (Shannon) Offaly, Tipperary 57.6 km (36 mi) 662 km2
36 Mulkear River (including Bilboa River) (Shannon) Tipperary, Limerick 55.9 km (34.75 mi) 650 km2
37 River Glyde (Co. Louth) Cavan, Meath, Louth 55.9 km (34.75 mi) 348 km2

TABLE 1

a

  • The length of the River Shannon from the Shannon Pot to Limerick City is 258 kilometres (160 mi) with a basin area of 11,700 km2.
  • The River Shannon's overall length (to Loop Head), using the Owenmore River (County Cavan) as source, is 372 kilometres (231 mi), 11 km (7 mi) longer than the Shannon Pot source.
  • The River Shannon's overall length (to Loop Head), using the Boyle River's furthest source, is 392.1 kilometres (243.6 mi), making the Boyle-Shannon river the longest natural stream flow (source to sea) in Ireland, 31.6 km (19.5 mi) longer than the Shannon Pot source.
  • The River Shannon is a traditional freshwater river for just about 45% of its total length. Excluding the 102.2-kilometre (63.5 mi) tidal estuary from its total length of 360 kilometres (224 mi), if one also excludes the lakes (L. Derg 39 kilometres (24 mi), L. Ree 29 kilometres (18 mi), L. Allen 11 kilometres (7 mi) plus L. Boderg, L. Bofin, L. Forbes, L. Corry) from the Shannon's freshwater flow of 258.3 kilometres (160.5 mi), the Shannon as a freshwater river is only about 160 kilometres (100 mi) long.

b

  • The total basin area of the Three Sisters (Barrow, Nore and Suir) is 9,207 km2.

c

  • The traditional length given for the River Bann is 80 miles (129 km) which is the combined total length of Upper and Lower Bann rivers and doesn't include Lough Neagh.
  • The total length of the Ulster Blackwater from its source to the sea via L. Neagh and the Lower Bann is 186.3 km (115.75 mi), surpassed, in Ireland, only by the Shannon and Barrow rivers. This is the longest stream flow (source to sea) in Ulster.

d

  • The total basin area of the 6 km River Corrib is 3,138 km2
  • The total length of the River Robe's journey from its source near Ballyhaunis to Galway Bay (via Lough Mask, Cong canal and river, Lough Corrib and River Corrib) is 72 miles (116 km). This is the longest stream flow (source to sea) within the Corrib Basin.

Largest Irish Rivers (by flow)

River

(River Basin)

 Mean Discharge

(m³/s)
1 River Shannona 209 (300)
2 River Corrib 105.5
3 River Bannb 92 (102.5)
4 River Foyle 90
5 River Blackwater (Munster) 87.5
6 River Erne 85
7 River Suirc 76
8 River Moy 63
9 River Barrowc 46.5
10 River Laune 43
11 River Norec 42
12 River Lee 40
13 River Slaney 39
14 River Boyne 38.5
15 River Cong (Corrib) 37.6
16 River Feale (Shannon) 34.6
17 River Fergus (Shannon) 25.7
18 River Clare (Corrib) 22.9
19 River Suck (Shannon) 22.2
20 River Avoca 22
21 River Bandon 21.5
22 River Mourne (Foyle) 21.1
23 River Blackwater (Ulster) (Bann) 19.7
24 River Ballisodare 18.25
25 River Inny (Shannon) 18.4
26 River Liffey 17
27 River Derg (Foyle) 16.2
28 River Maigue (Shannon) 15.6
29 River Main (Bann) 15.4
30 River Blackwater (Boyne) (Boyne) 15.08
31 Aille River (Connacht) (Corrib) 15.0
32 Owenmore River (County Mayo) 14.7
33 Boyle River (Shannon) 13.57
34 River Deel (Shannon) 12.56
35 Mulkear River (Shannon) 12.55

TABLE 2

a The River Shannon's 209 m3/s is to Limerick City (Catchment area: 11,700 km2). If the discharges from all of the rivers and streams into the Shannon Estuary (including the rivers Feale 34.6m3/s, Maigue 15.6m3/s, Fergus 25.7m3/s, and Deel 7.4m3/s) are added to the discharge at Limerick giving a total catchment of 16,865 km2, the total discharge of the River Shannon at its mouth at Loop Head reaches 300 m3/s

b The River Bann's 92 m3/s is to Movanagher Gauging station (Basin area 5209.8 km2). The 102.5 m3/s is based on the total basin area of 5808 km2 .

c The Three Sisters (Barrow, Nore & Suir) total flow into Waterford Harbour is 154 m3/s and the combined flow of the Barrow and Nore rivers is 86 m3/s before joining the river Suir near Waterford City.

A

River Avoca - geograph.org.uk - 1582493
River Avoca
  • Abbert River 25.25 miles (40.64 km)
  • Aghinrawn* (Fermanagh) See Owenbrean River
  • Agivey* 20.5 miles (33.0 km) (Londonderry)
  • Aghadowey River
  • Aherlow River 27 miles (43 km) (Tipperary)
  • River Aille 18.5 miles (29.8 km)
  • Allaghaun River 13.75 miles (22.13 km) (Limerick)
  • River Allow 22.75 miles (36.61 km) (Cork)
  • Allow, County Cork (Blackwater) 22.75 miles (36.61 km)
  • Altalacky* (Londonderry)
  • Annacloy* (Down)
  • Annascaul (Kerry)
  • River Annalee 41.75 miles (67.19 km)
  • River Anner 23.5 miles (37.8 km) (Tipperary)
  • River Ara 18.25 miles (29.37 km) (Tipperary)
  • Argideen River 17.75 miles (28.57 km) (Cork)
  • Arigna River 14 miles (23 km)
  • Arney* (Fermanagh)
  • Athboy River 22.5 miles (36.2 km) (Meath)
  • Aughavaud River, County Carlow
  • Aughrim River 5.75 miles (9.25 km) (Wicklow)
  • River Avoca (Ovoca) 9.5 miles (15.3 km) (Wicklow)
  • River Avonbeg 16.5 miles (26.6 km) (Wicklow)
  • River Avonmore 22.75 miles (36.61 km) (Wicklow)
  • Awbeg (Munster Blackwater) 31.75 miles (51.10 km)

B

Bann River at Portadown - geograph.org.uk - 1093155
River Bann
Longfield's Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 560046
Munster Blackwater

C

Galway 2011-12-26 17
River Corrib

D

  • Dale River 22.5 miles (36.2 km)
  • Dall*
  • River Dalua 15.5 miles (24.9 km)
  • River Dargle 12.5 miles (20.1 km)
  • River Dee, County Louth 37.75 miles (60.75 km)
  • River Deel 39.5 miles (63.6 km)
  • Deel River 28 miles (45 km)
  • River Deele 25.5 miles (41.0 km) (see the Burn Dale)
  • Dennett*
  • River Derg* 28 miles (45 km)
  • Derreen River 25 miles (40 km)
  • River Derry 21 miles (34 km)
  • Delvin River, County Dublin
  • Devlin River, County Sligo
  • Dervock*
  • River Diran 24.75 miles (39.83 km)
  • River Dodder 17 miles (27 km)
  • River Doonbeg 25.75 miles (41.44 km)
  • Dooyertha River 23.75 miles (38.22 km)
  • Drimnagh Castle Stream, County Dublin
  • River Drish 19.75 miles (31.78 km)
  • Dromaddamore River, County Kerry
  • Dromore River* 23.25 miles (37.42 km)
  • Drumquin River* 9.5 miles (15.3 km)
  • Drumragh River* 20.5 miles (33.0 km)
  • Duff* 13.25 miles (21.32 km)
  • Dun* (Glendun) 12 miles (19 km)

E

F

Peace Bridge Derry
River Foyle

G

H

I

J

K

L

The Ormeau Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 268380
River Lagan

M

N

Bennetsbridge42
River Nore

O

P

Q

R

  • Racecourse Stream, County Dublin
  • River Reelan* 10.5 miles (16.9 km)
  • Richardstown River, County Dublin
  • River Robe (via Loughs Mask and Corrib) 39.25 miles (63.17 km)
  • Robinhood Stream, County Dublin
  • River Roe* 34.25 miles (55.12 km)
  • Roogagh*
  • Rosserk River, County Mayo
  • Roughty River 16.75 miles (26.96 km) (flowing into Kenmare Bay) at Kenmare
  • Routing Burn 13 miles (21 km)
  • Rush Town Stream, County Dublin
  • River Rye 15.5 miles (24.9 km)

S

RiverSuck2781
River Suck

T

  • Tallaght Stream, County Dublin
  • River Tall* 22.5 miles (36.2 km)
  • River Tang 15.5 miles (24.9 km)
  • River Tar 18.75 miles (30.18 km)
Clonee Bridge, Clonee - geograph.org.uk - 665026
River Tolka

U

V

W

Y

  • Yellow River 17.25 miles (27.76 km)

See also

External sources

  • Irish whitewater River Guides
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List of rivers of Ireland Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.