The Three Sisters ( ga, An Triúr Deirfiúr) are three rivers in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

: the River Barrow, the

River Nore The River Nore ( ga, An Fheoir ) is one of the principal rivers (along with the River Suir and River Barrow) in the South-East Region of Ireland. The river drains approximately of Leinster and Munster, that encompasses parts of three counti ...

and the

River Suir The River Suir ( ; ga, an tSiúr or ''Abhainn na Siúire'' ) is a river in Ireland that flows into the Atlantic Ocean through Waterford after a distance of . The catchment area of the Suir is 3,610 km2.

. The Suir and Nore rise in the same mountainous area in

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after ...

, near the Devil's Bit, while the Barrow rises in the

Slieve Bloom Mountains The Slieve Bloom Mountains ( ga, Sliabh Bladhma; la, Bladinae montes) is a mountain range in Ireland. They rise from the central plain of Ireland to a height of 527 metres. While not very high, they are extensive by local standards. The high ...

County Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a med ...

. The Nore flows into the Barrow about 17 km before the Suir and Barrow join to form an estuary called Waterford Harbour east of the city of

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

. The rivers fan out to drain a large portion of the southern part of the island, including Counties Tipperary,

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic boundar ...

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 ...

and

, among others. The lengths of the three rivers of the Three Sisters are the Barrow - 192 km (119 mi), the Suir - 185 km (115 mi) and the

Nore The Nore is a long bank of sand and silt running along the south-centre of the final narrowing of the Thames Estuary, England. Its south-west is the very narrow Nore Sand. Just short of the Nore's easternmost point where it fades into the cha ...

- 140 km (87 mi). The combined catchment area of the Three Sisters is 9,207 km², made up of the Suir's (3,610 km²), the Barrow's (3,067 km²) and the Nore's (2,530 km²).South Eastern River Basin District Management System. Page 38 The combined long term average flow rate of the Three Sisters into Waterford Harbour is 157 m³/s, almost half of which is made up of the Suir's (76.9 m³/s), followed by the Nore's (42.9 m³/s) and the Barrow's (37.4 m³/s). The

Barrow Bridge Barrow rail bridge, (or the Barrow viaduct), is a pratt truss type of railway bridge that spans the river Barrow between County Kilkenny and County Wexford in the south east of Ireland. This rural landmark with a length of is the longest br ...

crosses two of the Three Sisters, the Nore and the Barrow. They then join the River Suir just

downstream Downstream may refer to: * Downstream (bioprocess) * Downstream (manufacturing) * Downstream (networking) * Downstream (software development) * Downstream (petroleum industry) * Upstream and downstream (DNA), determining relative positions on DNA ...

of the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...

. This place is known in Irish as ''Cumar na dTrí Uisce'', "the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

of the three waters". The Nore joins the Barrow some four kilometres north of

New Ross New Ross (, formerly ) is a town in southwest County Wexford, Ireland. It is located on the River Barrow, near the border with County Kilkenny, and is around northeast of Waterford. In 2016 it had a population of 8,040 people, making it t ...

and the combined waters of the three sisters that can be seen from Cheekpoint. The combined waters of all three sisters are then visible all the way down the estuary from Cheekpoint on. In

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cov ...

times, the area bounded by the Suir and the Barrow formed the Kingdom of

Ossory Osraige (Old Irish) or Osraighe (Classical Irish), Osraí (Modern Irish), anglicized as Ossory, was a medieval Irish kingdom comprising what is now County Kilkenny and western County Laois, corresponding to the Diocese of Ossory. The home of t ...

. This name is retained today for

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

s in both the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the sec ...

. The first, the gentle Shure that making way By sweet Clonmell, adorns rich Waterford; The next, the stubborne Newre, whose waters gray, By faire Kilkenny and Rosseponte boord, The third, the goodly Barow, which doth hoorde Great heaps of Salmons in his deepe bosome: All which long sundred, doe at last accord To ioyne in one, ere to the sea they come, So flowing all from one, all one at last become. Excerpt from Edmund Spencer's Irish rivers . 1552-1559

References

External links

Guide to navigating the Three Sisters estuary (from the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Three Sisters Rivers of County Carlow Rivers of County Kilkenny Rivers of County Waterford Rivers of County Tipperary