Munster Blackwater

The Blackwater or Munster Blackwater (Irish: An Abha Mhór, 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.[2] The long term average flow rate of the River Blackwater is 89.1 cubic metres per second (m3/s)[2] The Blackwater is notable for being one of the best salmon fishing rivers in the country.[3] 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.[4]

This article is about one of the Irish rivers called the "Blackwater". For other rivers of a similar name, see Blackwater River (disambiguation).
Munster Blackwater
River Blackwater at Fermoy
Native nameAn Abhainn Mhór, An Abha Mhór  (Irish)
Location
CountryIreland
ProvinceMunster
CountiesKerry, Cork, Waterford
Physical characteristics
SourceMullaghareirk Mountains
 • locationCounty Kerry
 • coordinates52.192°N 9.241°W / 52.192; -9.241
 • elevation229 m (751 ft)
MouthCeltic Sea
 • location
Youghal Harbour, Cork
 • coordinates
51.942°N 7.833°W / 51.942; -7.833
Length169 km (105 mi)
Basin size1,200 sq mi (3,100 km2)
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftFunshion or Funcheon, Araglin
 • rightBride
Designation
Official nameBlackwater Estuary
Designated7 June 1996
Reference no.836[1]

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 na Fuinseann, "the ash river")

Settlements

Towns along the river are Youghal,[5] Cappoquin, Lismore, Fermoy, Mallow and Rathmore.[4]

Special Protection Area

The Blackwater Estuary was listed on the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance on 11 June 1996.[6] It is also a Special Protection Area (SPA) under the E.U. Birds Directive, the SPA extends from Youghal New Bridge to the Ferry Point peninsula, near the ouflow of the river to the sea. The SPA encompasses a section of the main channel of the River Blackwater as far as Ballynaclash Quay as well as the channel between Kinsalebeg and Moord Cross Roads on the eastern side and part of the estuary of the Tourig River as far upstream as Kilmagner. The tidal flats attract numbers of waders and wildfowl and the species named as targets for conservation within the SPA include an internationally important population of black-tailed godwit as well as nationally important populations of Eurasian wigeon, European golden plover, Northern lapwing, dunlin, bar-tailed godwit, Eurasian curlew and common redshank. Other notable species occurring within the SPA are pale-bellied brent goose, common shelduck, Eurasian teal, mallard, Northern shoveler, red-breasted merganser, great cormorant, little egret, grey heron, Eurasian oystercatcher, common ringed plover, grey plover, red knot, common greenshank and ruddy turnstone. Little egret, European golden plover and bar-tailed godwit are listed on Annex I of the E.U. Birds Directive.[7]

References
  1. "Blackwater Estuary". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  2. South Eastern River Basin District Management System. Page 38 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Cork Blackwater". Fishing In Ireland. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  4. "About the Munster Blackwater". FishPal. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  5. "Youghal Blackwater Cruises". Youghal. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  6. "Ramsar List" (PDF). Ramsar.org. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  7. "SITE SYNOPSIS SITE NAME: BLACKWATER ESTUARY SPA SITE CODE: 004028" (PDF). National Parks and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
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