The longest river in Ireland and the British Isles, dividing the west of Ireland from the rest.
Length
360 km
Source
Shannon Pot, County Cavan
Mouth
Atlantic Ocean (Shannon Estuary)
Continent
Europe
Countries
Ireland
Did you know?
The Shannon is the longest river in the British Isles and has long been a natural frontier across Ireland.
Little-known fact
Legend says it is named after Sionann, a goddess who sought forbidden wisdom at a magical well and was swept away to form the river.
Highlights
- Longest river in the British Isles
- A natural frontier across Ireland
- Named after a Celtic goddess
Life in the Shannon
The fish and animals, waterbirds and water plants — including some of the rarest — that this water supports.
Animals & fish
Atlantic salmon
The “king of fish” — it is born in a river, grows at sea, then fights its way back upstream to spawn where it hatched.
Eurasian otter
A sleek, playful hunter whose return to a river is a sign the water has run clean again.
Waterbirds
Grey heron
A patient, statue-still angler that stalks the shallows of rivers and lakes across the Old World.
Mute swan
The great white swan of European waters, gliding in pairs that often mate for life.
Mallard
The familiar green-headed dabbling duck — ancestor of most domestic ducks — found on waters worldwide.
Interactive · 3D journey
Journey of a river · source → sea
Every river runs the same great journey — from an icy mountain spring, down through gorges and looping meanders, to a wide delta where it meets the sea. Tap a stage to follow the water downstream.
Tip: hover to tilt the valley · tap a stage to float downstream
The Source
Every river begins high up — in a mountain spring, a melting glacier or a boggy upland. The water is cold, clear and fast, tumbling down the steepest ground of its whole journey.
Landforms here