Beach seine fishing for salmon in River Feale near by town Ballybunion, year 1975.
The River Feale (''An Fhéil'' or ''Abhainn na Féile'' in
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
) rises near
Rockchapel in the
Mullaghareirk Mountains of
County Cork
County Cork ( ga, Contae ChorcaÃ) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...
in the southwest of
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and flows northwestwards for 75 kilometres through
Abbeyfeale in
County Limerick
"Remember Limerick"
, image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland
, subdivision_type1 = Provinces of Ireland, Province
, subd ...
and
Listowel
Listowel ( ; , IPA: ˆlʲɪsË ËˆtÌªË uÉ™hÉ™lʲ is a heritage market town in County Kerry, Ireland. It is on the River Feale, from the county town, Tralee. The town of Listowel had a population of 4,820 according to the CSO Census 2016.
Desc ...
in
County Kerry before finally emptying into
Cashen Bay, a wide estuary north of
Ballyduff. Then it flows out through the Shannon's estuary and joins with the Atlantic Ocean with a flow rate of 34.6 m
2/s. The river, along with its tributaries, combine to add to over 160 km (100 miles) of waterways. For the final 10 km (6 miles) stretch it is known as the Cashen River. The river contains a large
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...
and
sea trout population.
The headwaters of the Feale rise approximately 4.3 km northeast of the village of
Rockchapel between the townlands of Rockhill West, Rockhill East and Tooreenmacauliffe on the southwestern slopes of
Mullaghareirk mountain.
Name
According to
Geoffrey Keating
Geoffrey Keating ( ga, Seathrún Céitinn; c. 1569 – c. 1644) was a 17th-century historian. He was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, and is buried in Tubrid Graveyard in the parish of Ballylooby-Duhill. He became an Irish Catholic priest and a ...
's ''
Foras Feasa ar Éirinn
''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn'' – literally 'Foundation of Knowledge on Ireland', but most often known in English as 'The History of Ireland' – is a narrative history of Ireland by Geoffrey Keating, written in Irish and completed .Bernadette Cunnin ...
'' (compiled in the 1630s), the river takes its name from a legendary woman:
In Co Limerick and north Co Kerry the Feale is also referred to as one of the Three Sisters. These are three rivers which all rise close to each other in the Mullaghareirk mountains in north Co Cork and generally flow north or northwest into the Shannon Estuary. The other two rivers being the
Maigue and
Deel. This term is not to be confused with three of Ireland's larger rivers, the Nore the Suir and the Barrow, which are also collectively referred to as
The Three Sisters.
See also
*
Rivers of Ireland
Shown here are all the major rivers and tributaries of Ireland with their lengths (in kilometres and miles). Starting with the Northern Ireland rivers, and going in a clockwise direction, the rivers (and tributaries) are listed in regard to their ...
*
Shannon River Basin
References
Rivers of County Kerry
Rivers of County Cork
{{Ireland-river-stub
