River Barrow

The Barrow (Irish: An Bhearú) is a river in Ireland. It is one of The Three Sisters; the other two being the River Suir and the River Nore. The Barrow is the longest of the three rivers. At 192 km (120 mi), it is the second-longest river in Ireland, behind the River Shannon. The catchment area of the River Barrow is 3,067 km². The river's long term average flow rate is 37.4 cubic metres per second.

The source of the River Barrow is at Glenbarrow in the Slieve Bloom Mountains in County Laois.

Among the towns that the River Barrow passes through on its way to the sea in Waterford are Portarlington, Monasterevin, Athy, Carlow/Graiguecullen, Muine Bheag ( i.e. Bagenalstown,) Graiguenamanagh, and New Ross.

The river also forms a natural border between parts of counties Kilkenny and Carlow and Kilkenny and Wexford.

History

The earliest recorded name for the river is Berbha, from an AD 996 entry in the Annals of the Four Masters.

Translated:

The name Berbha is believed to refer to a river-goddess. Later spellings include Berba, Birga, Baruwe and Berrowe.