Munster Blackwater

This article is about one of the Irish rivers called the "Blackwater". For other rivers of a similar name, see Blackwater River (disambiguation).

River Blackwater (An Abhainn Mhór, An Abha Mhór)
River
River Blackwater at Fermoy
Country	Ireland
Province	Munster
Counties	Kerry, Cork, Waterford
Source	Mullaghareirk Mountains
- location	County Kerry
- elevation	229 m (751 ft)
- coordinates
Mouth	Celtic Sea
- location	Youghal Harbour, Cork
- coordinates
Length	169 km (105 mi)
Basin	1,200 sq mi (3,108 km2)

The Blackwater or Munster Blackwater (Irish: An Abha Mór, The Big River) is a river which flows through counties Kerry, Cork, and Waterford in Ireland. It rises in the Mullaghareirk Mountains in County Kerry and then flows in an easterly direction through County Cork, through Mallow and Fermoy. It then enters County Waterford where it flows through Lismore, before abruptly turning south at Cappoquin, and finally draining into the Celtic Sea at Youghal Harbour. In total, the Blackwater is 169 km (105 mi) long. The total catchment area of the River Blackwater is 3,324 km². The long term average flow rate of the River Blackwater is 89.1 Cubic Metres per second (m³/s)

The Blackwater is notable for being one of the best salmon fishing rivers in the country. Like many Irish and British rivers, salmon stocks declined in recent years, but the Irish Government banned commercial netting of salmon off the coast of Ireland in November 2006.

Tributaries

Tributaries of the Blackwater include:

• River Awbeg (An Abha Bheag, "the small river"),
• River Dalua (Abhainn Dalua),
• River Bride (An Bhríd),
• River Allow (Abhainn Ealla),
• River Araglin (An Airglinn),
• River Finnow (An Fhionnabha, "the fair river"),
• River Funshion (Abhainn an Uinseann).

Settlements

Towns along the river are Youghal, Cappoquin, Lismore, Fermoy, Mallow and Rathmore.

Blackwater Estuary

The Blackwater Estuary was listed on the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance on 11 June 1996.

External links

• Special Area of Conservation
• Salmon fishing on the Munster Blackwater, from Salmon Ireland
• The Munster Blackwater and associated navigations
• The Lombardstown to Mallow Canal