The spacious Shannon

Ruth Delany

Edmund Spenser in an oft quoted canto from The Faerie Queene refers to: "The spacious Shannon spreading like a sea" It is an apt description because this great river, the longest in Ireland or Britain, does indeed spread itself across the country like a great sea in places.

The catchment area is over 15,000 sq km, representing one fifth of the area of Ireland. The source of the river is ascribed to the Shannon Pot on the slopes of Cuilcagh Mountain in Co Cavan. The Pot is 152 m above sea level and in the first 14 km to Lough Allen, the infant river, joined by the Owenmore and the Owennayle, drops 104 m. It leaves Lough Allen to commence its slow progress across Ireland’s central plain, falling only 12m in the 185 km between Battlebridge, and Killaloe at the south end of Lough Derg. From here it drops 30m in the last few miles to Limerick.

From its source to Loop Head, where it meets the Atlantic Ocean, it is 344 km in length and it is joined by a number of river and lake systems which provide 258 km of cruising waterway: a total of 2,035 sq km. Some of the lakes are large inland seas which have to be treated with caution; Lough Allen is 11 km long, Lough Ree 29km and Lough Derg is 39 km. The Boyle and Carnadoe Waters and the Inner Lakes of Lough Ree are part of the Shannon Navigation and provide a series of small inter-connected lakes which are wildlife paradises.

Inevitably, a river of this size has made a significant contribution to the history and lives of the Irish people, from prehistoric times down to the present century. In the 1920s the Shannon hydro-electric scheme represented the emerging nation’s first steps on the road to establishing a sound economy, and today the river is an important amenity for tourists and Irish people alike. You can trace this historical background in the articles which follow. There is also much to be seen in the landscape, birds, wild flowers and wildlife of the Shannon. It is only possible here to provide a short introduction to these topics and to recommend some good text books. Those with.special interests will find many other books. The fishermen will find no shortage of good fishing grounds, and some indications of the type of fish and how and where to catch them is given, with more detailed locations referred to in the appendix. There is also a brief insight into the great wealth of poetry and legend of the river and this can be readily supplemented by the people you will meet along the way who are always happy to oblige with local lore. The Gazetteer section lists the places to visit and things to do and see for those travelling by water, but the guide also enables those travelling by road to search out interesting features.