Everything about The River Shannon totally explained
The
River Shannon (
Sionainn or
Sionna in
Irish) is, at 386 km (240 miles),
Ireland's longest river. It divides the west of the island (principally the
province of
Connacht) from the east and south (
Leinster and most of
Munster).
County Clare, being west of the Shannon but part of the province of Munster, is the major exception. The river represents a major physical barrier between east and west, with fewer than twenty crossing-points between
Limerick city in the south and the town of
Carrick on Shannon in the north.
The Shannon has been an important waterway since antiquity, having first been mapped by the the Graeco-Egyptian geographer
Ptolemy. The river flows generally southward from the
Shannon Pot in
County Cavan before turning west and emptying into the
Atlantic Ocean through the 113 km (70 mi) long
Shannon Estuary.
Limerick city stands at the point where the river water meets the sea water of the estuary. The Shannon is unaffected by sea tides east of Limerick.
Geography
The source of the Shannon is in the Cuilcagh Mountains in south
County Fermanagh in
Northern Ireland, from where it flows through Shannon Cave, and rises at Shannon Pot in
County Cavan. The river runs through/between 13 of Ireland's
counties. Lakes on the Shannon include
Lough Allen,
Lough Ree and
Lough Derg. Tributaries include the River Inny,
River Suck and the
River Brosna.
Canals
There are also many
canals connecting with the river Shannon. The
Royal Canal and the
Grand Canal connect the Shannon to Dublin and the Irish Sea. It is linked to the
River Erne and
Lough Erne by the
Shannon-Erne Waterway.
Ballinasloe is linked to the Shannon via the
River Suck and canal, while
Boyle is connected via the Boyle canal, the river Boyle and Lough Kee. There is also the
Ardnacrusha canal connected with the Ardnacrusha dam south of Lough Derg. Lecarrow village in County Roscommon is connected to Lough Ree via the Lecarrow canal. Jamestown Canal forms a link between the River Shannon, from south of Jamestown, to Lough Nanoge to the south of
Drumsna.
History
The river began flowing along its present course after the end of the
Ice Age.
Vikings settled in the region in 10th century and used the river to raid the rich monasteries deep inland. In 937 the Limerick Vikings clashed with those of
Dublin on Lough Ree and were defeated.
In the seventeenth century, the Shannon was of major strategic importance in military campaign in Ireland, as it formed a physical boundary between the east and west of the country. In the
Irish Confederate Wars of 1641-53, the Irish retreated behind the Shannon in 1650 and held out for two further years against English Parliamentarian forces. In preparing a
land settlement, or
plantation after his
conquest of Ireland Oliver Cromwell reputedly said the remaining Irish landowners would go to "Hell or Connacht", referring to their choice of forced migration west across the river Shannon, or death. Thus freeing up the landholdings for the incoming English settlers.
In the
Williamite war in Ireland (1689-91), the
Jacobites also retreated behind the Shannon after their defeat at the
Battle of the Boyne in 1690. Athlone and Limerick, cities commanding bridges over the river, saw bloody sieges. (See
Sieges of Limerick and
Siege of Athlone).
As late as 1916, the leaders of the
Easter Rising planned to have their forces in the west "hold the line of the Shannon". However, in the event, the rebels were neither well enough armed nor equipped to attempt such an ambitious policy.
The Shannon river is closely bound up with Ireland's social, cultural, military, economic and political history.
Economics
Despite being more than 300 km (200 miles) long, it rises only 76 m (250 feet) above sea level, so the river is easily navigable, with only a few locks along its length. There is a hydroelectric generation plant at
Ardnacrusha belonging to the
ESB.
Shipping in Shannon estuary was developed extensively during the 1980s, with over
IR£2 billion (
€2.5Billion) investment. A tanker terminal at
Foynes and an oil jetty at
Shannon Airport were built. In 1982 a large scale
Alumina Extraction Plant was built at
Aughinish. 60,000 tonne cargo vessels now carry raw
bauxite from West African mines to the plant, where it's refined to Alumina. This is then exported to
Canada where it's further refined to
Aluminium. 1985 saw the opening of a huge coal-fired electricity plant at
Moneypoint, fed by regular visits by 150,000 tonne bulk carriers.
Further Information
Get more info on 'River Shannon'.
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