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Munster Blackwater

Coordinates: 51°56′31″N 7°49′59″W / 51.942°N 7.833°W / 51.942; -7.833
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about one of the Irish rivers called the "Blackwater". For other rivers of a similar name, see Blackwater River (disambiguation).

Munster Blackwater
The Blackwater at Fermoy
Map
Native name
Location
CountryIreland
ProvinceMunster
CountiesKerry, Cork, Waterford
Physical characteristics
SourceMullaghareirk Mountains
 • locationCounty Kerry
 • coordinates52°11′31″N 9°14′28″W / 52.192°N 9.241°W / 52.192; -9.241
 • elevation229 m (751 ft)
MouthCeltic Sea
 • location
Youghal Harbour, Cork
 • coordinates
51°56′31″N 7°49′59″W / 51.942°N 7.833°W / 51.942; -7.833
Length169 km (105 mi)
Basin size1,200 sq mi (3,100 km2)
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftFunshion or Funcheon, Araglin
 • rightBride
Designation
Official nameBlackwater Estuary
Designated7 June 1996
Reference no.836[1]

The Blackwater or Munster Blackwater (Irish: An Abhainn Mhór, The Great River) is a river which flows through counties Kerry, Cork and Waterford in Ireland. It rises in the Mullaghareirk Mountains in County Kerry and then flows in an easterly direction across County Cork through the towns of Mallow and Fermoy. It then enters County Waterford where it flows through Lismore, before abruptly turning south at Cappoquin and finally draining into the Celtic Sea at Youghal Harbour in Cork.[2] In total, the Blackwater is 169 km (105 mi) long.

The total catchment area of the River Blackwater is 3,324 km2.[3] Its long-term average flow rate of is 89.1 cubic metres per second (m3/s)[3] The Blackwater is notable for being one of the best salmon fishing rivers in the country.[4] Like many Irish rivers, salmon stocks declined in recent years, but the Irish government banned commercial netting of salmon off the coast of Ireland in November 2006.[5]

Tributaries

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Tributaries of the Blackwater include:

  • River Awbeg (An Abha Bheag, "the small river")
  • River Dalua (Abhainn Dalua)
  • River Bride (An Bhríd)
  • River Allow (Abhainn Ealla)
  • River Araglin (An Airglinn)
  • River Finnow (An Fhionnabha, "the fair river")
  • River Funshion (Abhainn na Fuinseann, "the ash river")

Settlements

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Towns along the river are Youghal,[6] Cappoquin, Lismore, Fermoy, Mallow and Rathmore.[5]

Special Protection Area

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The Blackwater Estuary was listed on the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance on 11 June 1996.[7] It is also a Special Protection Area (SPA) under the E.U. Birds Directive, the SPA extends from Youghal New Bridge to the Ferry Point peninsula, near the outflow of the river to the sea. The SPA encompasses a section of the main channel of the River Blackwater as far as Ballynaclash Quay as well as the channel between Kinsalebeg and Moord Cross Roads on the eastern side and part of the estuary of the Tourig River as far upstream as Kilmagner. The tidal flats attract numbers of waders and wildfowl and the species named as targets for conservation within the SPA include an internationally important population of black-tailed godwit as well as nationally important populations of Eurasian wigeon, European golden plover, Northern lapwing, dunlin, bar-tailed godwit, Eurasian curlew and common redshank. Other notable species occurring within the SPA are pale-bellied brent goose, common shelduck, Eurasian teal, mallard, Northern shoveler, red-breasted merganser, great cormorant, little egret, grey heron, Eurasian oystercatcher, common ringed plover, grey plover, red knot, common greenshank and ruddy turnstone. Little egret, European golden plover and bar-tailed godwit are listed on Annex I of the E.U. Birds Directive.[8]

Fish kill

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On 11 August 2025, anglers on the river discovered a major fish kill. It was estimated that 32,000 salmon and brown trout died after an unknown environmental irritant entered the water. Tests found no evidence of disease, chemicals, pesticides, or heavy metals. Despite a significant investigation, a report stated that the pollutant or source responsible for the fish kill could not be identified. Local anglers urged Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) to improve investigations, questioned the agency's delay in initiating them, and called for the removal of all commercial netting, as well as increased fines for facilities that discharge into the river.[9][10] It was the largest fish kill in the history of the State.[11]

On 13 September 2025, Ella McSweeney, writing in the Irish Times published an extensive report detailing a list of violations by North Cork Creameries, a farmer-owned co-operative based in Kanturk. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had published a series of violations regarding the creamery, which discharged and continues to dischharge into the River Allow, a tributary to the Blackwater. When questioned in relation to the fish kill, North Cork Creameries responded by stating it was "entirely impossible" that it was responsible for the fish kill. Later, the EPA confirmed that there was no causal link between the creamery’s discharges and the fish kill.[12]

Following the fish kill, local angling clubs installed their own year-round, 24/7 water quality sensors, known as "sondes". At an Oireachtas hearing, the Killavullen Angling Club secretary criticised the multi-agency taskforce for failing to identify the pollutant or those responsible. "They failed on all counts," said Mr Flynn, adding that local anglers and communities have lost confidence in the agencies meant to protect rivers and waterways.[11]

References

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  1. ^ "Blackwater Estuary". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  2. ^ "Munster Blackwater Catchment Assessment 2010-2015" (PDF). Catchments.ie. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  3. ^ a b South Eastern River Basin District Management System. Page 38 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ "Cork Blackwater". Fishing in Ireland. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  5. ^ a b "About the Munster Blackwater". FishPal. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  6. ^ "Youghal Blackwater Cruises". Youghal. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  7. ^ "Ramsar List" (PDF). Ramsar.org. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  8. ^ "SITE SYNOPSIS SITE NAME: BLACKWATER ESTUARY SPA SITE CODE: 004028" (PDF). National Parks and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  9. ^ Pepper, Diarmuid (1 October 2025). "Committee warned fish kill from recent Cork incident could run into the 'hundreds of thousands'". TheJournal.ie.
  10. ^ Lee, George (25 September 2025). "Probe into Blackwater fish kill finds no definitive cause".
  11. ^ a b O’Riordan, Sean (6 October 2025). "Cork angling clubs to set up pollution monitoring systems in wake of River Blackwater fish kill". Irish Examiner.
  12. ^ McSweeney, Ella (13 September 2025). "Rules to protect Ireland's fragile rivers are being repeatedly breached". The Irish Times.
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