Abstract
The Shannon is the longest river in the British Isles (280 km) and drains an area of about 15,530 km2. The source of the river is Shannon Pot, a karst rising in County Cavan, which is one of the most famous springs in Ireland. Water tracer experiments have shown that the rising drains an immediate area of about 12.8 km2 on the slopes of Cuilcagh Mountain, of which about 60% is underlain by limestone. However, two sinks 10–11 km east of the rising and ca. 200 m higher have also been shown to be hydrologically connected during high flow conditions. This suggests that Shannon Pot may once have had a substantially larger catchment area.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Elliot JV and Solari RA (1972) Shannon Pot. Cave Diving Group Newsl 22:10
Gunn J (1982) Water tracing in Ireland: A review with special reference to the Cuilcagh karst. Ir Geogr 15:94–106
Hull E (1878) Physical geology and geography of Ireland. Dublin, Ireland
Wilkinson SB and Cruise RJ (1886) Explanatory memoir to accompany sheet 56 of the maps of the Geological Survey of Ireland. Dublin: Geological Survey of Ireland
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gunn, J. Source of the River Shannon, Ireland. Geo 27, 110–112 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01061681
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01061681