Ireland’s Rivers

Ireland’s rivers

Ireland’s rivers are as varied as the landscape that they flow through and have helped form.  Each river varies also along its length; starting as fast-flowing rocky mountain brooks near their upland source in much of the country, the current gradually slows as the river flows into the lowlands and often meanders lazily to the sea.  In the mountainous west and in Wicklow many of the rivers don’t take long to tumble from their source to the sea.  In the midlands that journey is longer and more leisurely, with river Shannon, the longest river in Ireland and Great Britain, widening into several lakes along the way. 

Ireland is home to a number truly iconic rivers, famous worldwide for their beauty, wildlife fishing and boating.  The river Blackwater in Munster is famous for its salmon fishing and is home to historic rowing clubs at Fermoy and Cappoquin.  The mighty Shannon is world renowned as a boating, cruising and angling river and is the centre for inland water sports in Ireland.  The Liffey is famous as the river on whose banks the nation’s capital was built.  Every September it hosts the famous 17 mile long Liffey Descent international canoe race from Straffan in Kildare to Islandbridge.

 The wildlife, attractions, uses and threats to our rivers vary also with the landscape they flow through.  Angling, cruising and canoeing all are popular river sports, although the way most people enjoy their local river is often a simple stroll along its bank taking in the sights and sounds of nature.

As well as providing some of the most beautiful scenery in the county and habitats for a rich diversity of plants and animals, our rivers provide an enormous practical service to the country.  Historically they were routes for transport of goods and passengers and today they are a still a major conduit – but for our waste, with all our main rivers the ultimate receptor for much of our domestic, sewage and industrial discharges.  The size and number of discharges and the degree to which the waste is treated influences how the health of a river will be affected.

Upland rivers are likely to be effected by forestry; rivers of fertile agricultural land by runoff from farming and rivers in areas of high population by human and industrial wastes.  All of these need to be managed in an integrated way to ensure the health of the rivers for local communities and for wildlife.  The river basin management planning process, required under EU legislation, provides a system for doing this.