River Suir

River Suir
River Suir at Holycross
Origin	Devil's Bit Mountain, County Tipperary
Mouth	Celtic Sea at Waterford

The River Suir (Irish pronunciation: [ʃuːr], Irish An tSiúr or Abhainn na Siúire) is a river in Ireland that flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Waterford after a distance of 184 kilometres (114 miles).The total catchment area is 3,526km2. Popular with anglers, it holds plentiful reserves of brown trout. While the Suir holds the record for a salmon taken from an Irish river, (weighing 57lb/26 kg, taken on a fly in 1874)^[1] as is the case in many other Atlantic rivers, salmon stocks have been in decline in recent years.

Rising on the slopes of Devil's Bit Mountain, just north of Templemore in County Tipperary, the Suir flows south through Loughmore, Thurles, Holycross, Golden and Knockgraffon. Merging with the River Aherlow at Kilmoyler and further on with the Tar, it turns east at the Comeragh Mountains, forming the border between County Waterford and County Kilkenny. It then passes through Cahir, Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir before reaching Waterford. Here, it meets the River Barrow and the River Nore to form a wide navigable estuary, capable of accommodating seagoing vessels.

Together with the Nore and the Barrow, the river is one of the trio known as The Three Sisters.

The Suir is known in Irish as the Siúr and it is thought the present spelling in English with the u and i reversed is due to a mistake. Some people therefore feel that the spelling in English should be Siur and this spelling is occasionally seen.^{[citation needed]}. Edmund Spenser (1552-1599) author of the The Fairie Queene, in his writings during the Elizabethan age while domiciled in County Cork, referred to the 'gentle Shure', probable a most accurate spelling and the most phonetically correct of the period.

In the early years of the 21st century, the remains of a very large Viking settlement were found at a bend in the river just upstream from Waterford.

In Clonmel, the Suir floods the local area after very heavy rainfalls falling in the up river catchment of 2,173km2. The Office of Public Works (OPW) completed and installed a Flood Forecasting System which was used to forecast flooding in January 2008 and January 2009, the flooding of January 2009 being a 1 in 5 year event. Phase 1 of the Clonmel Flood defense (1-100 year) which stated in 2007 is scheduled for completion in late 2009 and phase two and three as one contract by 2011/2012. The flood defense consists of demountable barriers, walls and earth banks. The Gashouse Bridge, Coleville Road, Davis Road, the quays and the Old Bridge are generally the worst affected areas. Clonmel is not tidal. The tide turns above the Miloko chocolate crumb factory in Carrick-on-Suir. The flood waters spill onto the land above Miloko on the County Waterford side of the river.

Carrick-on-Suir is tidal and has a 1-50 year flood defence. The Office of Public Works (OPW) now plan to install a 1-200 year flood defence where the river suir flows threw Waterford city.

Where the river flows through south County Kilkenny, near the town of Mooncoin, was written one of the most famous Irish ballads, called The Rose of Mooncoin, which includes the lines "On the banks of the Suir, that flows down by Mooncoin".

References

External links

• Salmon Ireland, information on the Salmon rivers of Ireland

Coordinates: 52°16′N 7°00′W / 52.267°N 7°W / 52.267; -7