river shannon

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Coordinates: 52°39′25″N 8°39′36″W / 52.657°N 8.66°W / 52.657; -8.66River Shannon (Abha na Sionainne)
River

River Shannon at Clonmacnoise, Offaly, Ireland
Country Ireland
Counties Cavan, Leitrim, Roscommon, Longford, Offaly, Westmeath, Galway, Clare, Tipperary, Limerick


Source Shannon Pot
- location Dowra, Cuilcagh Mountain, County Cavan, Ireland
- elevation 100 m (328 ft)
- coordinates 54°14′06″N 7°55′12″W / 54.235°N 7.92°W / 54.235; -7.92
Mouth Shannon Estuary
- location Limerick
- coordinates 52°39′25″N 8°39′36″W / 52.657°N 8.66°W / 52.657; -8.66

Length 386 km (240 mi)

The River Shannon (Irish: Abha na Sionainne / an tSionainn / an tSionna) is, at 386 km (240 miles), the longest river in Ireland.[1][2] It divides the west of Ireland (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 village of Dowra in the north.

The origin of the name is presumably that of the name of the Goddess associated with the river, "Sionna".

The Shannon has been an important waterway since antiquity, having first been mapped by 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.