Rivers of Ireland


Shown here are all the major rivers and tributaries of Ireland with their lengths. Starting with the Northern Ireland rivers, and going in a clockwise direction, the rivers are listed in regard to their entry into the different seas: the Irish Sea, the Celtic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Also shown are two tables. Table 1 shows the longest rivers in Ireland with their lengths, the counties they flow through, and their catchment areas. Table 2 shows the largest rivers in Ireland in cubic metres per second.
The longest river in Ireland is the River Shannon, at. The river develops into three lakes along its course, Lough Allen, Lough Ree and Lough Derg. Of these, Lough Derg is the largest. The Shannon enters the Atlantic Ocean at the Shannon Estuary. Other major rivers include the River Liffey, River Lee, River Swilly, River Foyle, River Lagan, River Erne, River Blackwater, River Nore, River Suir, River Barrow, River Bann, River Slaney, River Boyne, River Moy and River Corrib.

Longest Irish Rivers (with Basin areas)

Lengths obtained from the Ordnance Survey of Ireland: Rivers and their Catchment Basins 1958, and for the rivers Bann and Erne - Notes on River Basins by Robert A. Williams
RiverCountiesLengthBasin Area
1River Shannon aCavan, Leitrim, Roscommon, Longford, Westmeath, Galway, Offaly,
Tipperary, Clare, Limerick, Kerry		360 km 16,800 km2
2River BarrowbLaois, Kildare, Kilkenny, Carlow,
Wexford, Waterford		192 km 3,067 km2
3River SuirbTipperary, Waterford, Kilkenny, Wexford184 km 3,610 km2
4River Blackwater Kerry, Cork, Waterford168 km 3,324 km2
5River Bann cDown, Armagh, Antrim, Londonderry159 km 5,808 km2
6River NorebTipperary, Laois, Kilkenny140 km 2,530 km2
7River Suck Roscommon, Galway133 km 1,600 km2
8River LiffeyWicklow, Kildare, Dublin132 km 1,256 km2
9River ErneCavan, Fermanagh, Donegal129 km 4,372 km2
10River Foyle Tyrone, Londonderry, Donegal129 km 2,925 km2
11River SlaneyWicklow, Carlow, Wexford117 km 1,762 km2
12River BoyneKildare, Offaly, Meath, Louth113 km 2,695 km2
13River MoySligo, Mayo101 km 2,086 km2
14River Clare dMayo, Roscommon, Galway93 km 1,108 km2
15River Blackwater cTyrone, Monaghan, Armagh92 km 1,507 km2
16tRiver Inny Cavan, Longford, Westmeath89 km 1,254 km2
16tRiver LeeCork89 km 1,253 km2
18River LaganDown, Antrim86 km 565 km2
19River Brosna Westmeath, Offaly79 km 1,248 km2
20River Laune Kerry76 km 829 km2
21River Feale Cork, Limerick, Kerry74 km 1,170 km2
22River BandonCork72 km 608 km2
23River Blackwater Cavan, Meath68 km 733 km2
24River Annalee Monaghan, Cavan66.8 km 522 km2
25River Bride Cork, Waterford64 km 419 km2
26Boyle River Mayo, Sligo, Roscommon64 km 725 km2
27River Deel Cork, Limerick63.2 km 481 km2
28River Robe dMayo62.8 km 320 km2
29River Finn Donegal, Tyrone62.8 km 505 km2
30River Maigue Cork, Limerick62 km 1,000 km2
31Fane RiverMonaghan, Armagh, Louth61.2 km 350 km2
32Ballisodare RiverSligo60.8 km 650 km2
33River Dee Cavan, Meath, Louth60.4 km 392 km2
34River Fergus Clare58.4 km 1,043 km2
35Little Brosna River Offaly, Tipperary57.6 km 662 km2
36Mulkear River Tipperary, Limerick55.9 km 650 km2
37River Glyde Cavan, Meath, Louth55.9 km 348 km2
TABLE 1
a
b
c
d
TABLE 2
a The River Shannon's 209 m3/s is to Limerick City. If the discharges from all of the rivers and streams into the Shannon Estuary are added to the discharge at Limerick giving a total catchment of 16,865 km2, the total discharge of the River Shannon at its mouth at Loop Head reaches 300 m3/s
b The River Bann's 92 m3/s is to Movanagher Gauging station. The 102.5 m3/s is based on the total basin area of 5808 km2
c The Three Sisters total flow into Waterford Harbour is 154 m3/s and the combined flow of the Barrow and Nore rivers is 86 m3/s before joining the river Suir near Waterford City.

Rivers in Northern Ireland

With length in miles
With length in miles
With length in miles
With length in miles