Shannon River Basin
The Shannon River Basin consists of the area containing Ireland's longest river, the River Shannon, and all of its tributaries and lakes. The official Ordnance Survey Ireland length of the Shannon from its Shannon Pot source is made up of tidal water flow and freshwater flow.
Statistics
The Shannon Basin is Ireland's largest basin with an area of. Including the estuary and the River Feale, the total catchment drains a total of.It has a Long Term Average Flow of . This is double the flow rate of Ireland's second largest river, the River Corrib. If the discharges from all of the rivers and streams into the Shannon Estuary are added to the discharge at Limerick, the total discharge of the River Shannon at its mouth at Loop Head reaches.
The River Shannon is a traditional freshwater river for just 45% of its total length. Excluding the tidal estuary from its total length of, if one also excludes the lakes from the Shannon's freshwater flow of, the Shannon as a freshwater river is only about long.
The Shannon River Basin is part of the Shannon International River Basin District administrative area which has an area of in area. In addition to the Shannon Basin, the district also covers coastal parts of Kerry and Clare which drain to the sea. The SHIRBD contains of rivers, of coastline including estuaries, and 113 lakes, including 53 over in size. The main land use throughout the SHIRBD area is agriculture. Peatlands and forestry are also important. The SHIRBD's population is 618,884 at .
Furthest sources
There are some tributaries within the River Shannon system which have headwaters that are further in length than the Shannon Pot source, such as the Owenmore River in County Cavan, which flows west for through the valley of Glangevlin before joining the Shannon about below the Shannon Pot at Lugnashinna, thus adding to the Shannon's overall length, bringing it to.Also the Boyle River has a similar claim. The river flow from the furthest reaches of the Boyle catchment to Limerick city has a measurement of. When added to the Shannon's estuary this gives a total river flow of, which makes it the longest river within the River Shannon basin — longer than the Shannon Pot source. Thus the Boyle-Shannon river can be regarded as having the longest natural river flow in Ireland.
Geography
The River Shannon Basin touches more than half of Ireland's counties:- Limerick, Clare, Tipperary, Offaly, Westmeath, Longford, Roscommon, Kerry, Galway, Leitrim, Cavan, Sligo, Mayo, Cork, Laois, Meath and Fermanagh.There are many towns situated in the Shannon Basin.
Towns and Villages within the Shannon River Basin and the rivers and riverbanks on which they stand:
Shannon River:
- Dowra
- Drumshanbo 857
- Leitrim Village 485
- Carrick-on-Shannon 3,980
- Jamestown
- Drumsna 247
- Drumod 356
- Roosky 188
- Termonbarry 366
- Cloondara
- Lanesborough 1,388
- Athlone 20,153
- Clonmacnoise
- Shannonbridge 206
- Banagher 1,653
- Portumna 1,530
- Terryglass
- Mountshannon 152
- Dromineer 113
- Ballina 2,442
- Killaloe 1,292
- O'Briensbridge 235
- Castleconnell 1,917
- Ardnacrusha
- Limerick City 87,081
- Shannon 9,673
- Kilrush 2,695
- Carrigaholt
- Foynes 543
- Glin 577
- Tarbert 551
- Ballylongford 418
- Ballybunion 1,354
- Boyle river: Boyle 2,588
- Lung river: Ballaghaderreen 1,822
- Camlin river: Longford 9,601
- Hind river: Roscommon 5,693
- River Inny : Mullingar 20,103
- River Brosna: Ballymahon 1,563, Ferbane 1,165, Tullamore 14,361
- River Suck: Castlerea 1,985, Athleague 241, Ballinasloe 6,577
- Little Brosna river: Birr 5,452
- Ballyfinboy River: Borrisokane 1,145, Cloughjordan 511
- Nenagh river: Nenagh 8,439
- River Graney: Scariff 798
- Bunratty river: Sixmilebridge 1,839, Bunratty 219
- River Fergus: Ennis 25,360, Newmarket-on-Fergus 1,773
- River Maigue: Adare 1,106
- River Deel: Rathkeale 1,550, Askeaton 1,149
- River Feale: Listowel 4,338, Abbeyfeale 2,007
Tributary Sub Catchments
Left Bank:
- L Allen 415 km2
- Eslin River 73 km2
- River Rinn 311 km2
- Camlin River 352 km2
- River Inny 1,254 km2
- River Brosna 1,248 km2
- Little Brosna River 662 km2
- Ballyfinboy River 182 km2
- Nenagh River 321 km2
- Mulkear River 660 km2
- Boyle River 725 km2
- Hind River 78 km2
- River Suck 1,600 km2
- Cappagh/Kilcrow 414 km2
- River Graney 295 km2
Left Bank:
- River Maigue 1,0002
- River Deel 426 km2
- River Feale 1,170 km2
- Bunratty River 233 km2
- River Fergus 1,043 km2
Lakes
There are a multitude of lakes within the Shannon River Basin, both on the main river and throughout the sub-catchments.Here is a table showing the major lakes:
LAKE | AREA | BASIN |
Lough Derg | 130 km2 | Shannon |
Lough Ree | 105 km2 | Shannon |
Lough Allen | 35 km2 | Shannon |
Lough Sheelin | 19 km2 | Inny |
Lough Ennell | 14.34 km2 | Brosna |
Lough Gara | 11.9 km2 | Boyle |
Lough Derravaragh | 10.8 km2 | Inny |
Lough Owel | 10.3 km2 | Brosna |
Lough Bofin/Boderg/Scannal | 9.7 km2 | Shannon |
Lough Key | 8.4 km2 | Boyle |
Lough Graney | 3.7 km2 | Graney |
Lough Forbes | 3 km2 | Shannon |
Lough Eidin | 2.7 km2 | Boyle |
Lough Funshinagh | 2.5 km2 | Shannon |