River Shannon

“ The rivers of Tipperary flow into the Shannon and the Suir, and the Shannon is a noble river, and an immense one when you consider how small the accommodations of the country are.
To snare a trout, you pick out the clear shallows where the water flows softly over the yellow gravel. You approach the spot with great caution, and with such slow and easy movement that the fish is not alarmed, or if he does dart off to deeper water or some dark lurking-place, presently returns, revealing himself by his flickering shadow, that seems even more real than himself. ”

“ A summer evening on the shores of the Shannon, "the silver Shannon spreading like a sea," gardens sloping down to the river's brink, mists of twilight slowly spreading over the tops of the hills, clothing them with mystery. From the City of Limerick—Limerick the Beautiful—boats flit up and down, It was a time for whispering lovers, for music, for romance. The silence was broken by the sound of a voice—a voice clear and silvery, sweet and strong; it seemed to be coming from a woodbine-covered arbour in the grounds of the Earl of Limerick, wnich bordered the river. Who was singing? ”

“ It is an expansion of the Shannon, being the lowest lake on that river, and is 23 m. long and generally from 1 to 3 m. broad. It lies where the Shannon leaves the central plain of Ireland and flows between the hills which border the plain. While the northerly shores of the lake, therefore, are flat, the southern are steep and picturesque, being backed by the Slieve Aughty, Slieve Bernagh and Arra Mountains. Ruined churches and fortresses are numerous on the eastern shore, and on Iniscaltra Island are a round tower and remains of five churches. ”

“ The Shannon connects with the Royal Canal at Tarmonbury, and with the Grand Canal at Shannon harbour, near Banagher. At Shannon Bridge it receives on the west its principal tributary, the Suck; on the east, the Inny, the Upper and Lower Brosna, Mulkerna, Maig, Fergus, &c.
The Shannon river connects the tide water of the Atlantic in Limerick with Dublin by two canals, the Grand and the Royal. It passes by the towns of Limerick, Killaloe, Portumna, Banagher, Shannon Bridge, Athlone, Lanesboro’, Yarmon, Roosky, Drumsna, Carrick, Leitrim, and Drumshambo. ”

“ On the east side of the river Shannon, about ten miles distant from Athlone, in the barony of Garrycastle, and King’s County, is situated the Sanctuary of Clonmacnoise. Within the narrow limits of two Irish acres, are here condensed more religious ruins, of antiquarian value, than are to be found, perhaps, in a similar space in any other quarter of the habitable world. ”

“ The direction of the Shannon from Lough Allen to Limerick, though generally south by south-west, is very circuitous, and broken by many streams, islands, and rocks. The soundings are as various, and both banks are liable to be overflowed by the river to a great extent; and the large expanse of the lakes would require a different sort of vessel from those which navigate the river. The works which have been constructed to overcome the natural difficulties of the navigation are either insufficient or in a state of decay ”

“ The rapids of the Shannon at this point are obviated by means of a lock communication with a basin, which renders the navigation of the river practicable above the town. The steamers of the Shannon Development Company ply on the river, and some trade by water is carried on with Limerick, and with Dublin by the river and the Grand and Royal canals. Athlone is an important agricultural centre, and there are woollen factories. The salmon fishing both provides sport and is a source of commercial wealth. ”

“ Shannon could give me no further account of R. Fields and Drewyer than that he had left them about noon on the 19th at the great falls and had come on the mouth of Medicine river to hunt Elk as he had been directed, and never had seen them since. the evening being now far spent I thought it better to pass the Medicine river and remain all night at Shannon's camp; I passed the river on a raft which we soon constructed for the purpose. the river is here about 80 yds. wide, is deep and but a moderate current. the banks low as those of the Missouri above the falls yet never appear to overflow. ”

“ He held on to one horse, and lucky he did. Here’s what the Journal says about Shannon—whom Lewis himself found:
“‘He became weak and feable deturmined to lay by and wait for a tradeing boat, which is expected. Keeping one horse as a last resorse, yet a man had like to have starved to death in a land of Plenty for the want of Bullits or something to kill his meat.’”
“Where was he when they found him?” John had his map ready.
“Well, let’s see. They found him on September 11th, and they had traveled thirteen days, not counting stops, and made one hundred and sixty miles by the river. ”

“ The lakes in the Lough Earne basin have an area of about 50,000 acres. The shoals and [77] straits, which obstruct the river and cause the inundations, have an aggregate length of merely 6 miles. Only one mill-weir (which is the only fish-weir) exists, and it is at the outlet, where there is a fall of 12 feet. The Shannon basin has lakes of the superficial area of 87,000 acres. In the length, from the Battle Bridge above Carrick-on-Shannon to Killaloe Bridge, of 128 miles, the lakes occupy 501⁄2 miles; the broad, deep channel extends for 731⁄2 miles ”

“ A true rapid occurs in the course of the Shannon, just above Limerick, where the river, forty feet deep, and three hundred yards wide, pours its body of water through and above a congregation of huge rocks and stones, extending nearly half a mile, and becomes quite unnavigable. Inglis had never heard of this rapid before arriving in its neighborhood; but ranks it in grandeur and effect, above either the Welsh water-falls or the Geisbach in Switzerland. ”

“ The principal river is the Shannon, which, issuing from Lough Allen, forms the south-western boundary of the county with Roscommon. The Bonnet rises in the north-west and flows to Lough Gill, and the streams of Drones and Duff separate Leitrim from Donegal and Sligo. Besides Lough Allen, which has an area of 8900 acres, the other principal lakes in the county are Lough Macnean, Lough Scur, Lough Garadice and Lough Melvin. The scenery of the north is wild and attractive, while in the neighbourhood of the Shannon it is of great beauty. ”

“ A small inland county, not remarkable for grandeur of scenery, consisting principally of rich, extensive pasturage, intermixed with considerable masses of bog. There are some pretty views on the banks of the Shannon, which forms its eastern boundary. For the mineralogist there is little to interest, as its basis throughout is almost one continued sheet of limestone. Bounded E. by the Shannon; S. by Galway; W. by Mayo; N. by Sligo; N.E. by Leitrim.
Abbey Boyle, or Boyle, 20 m. N. of Roscommon, pleasantly seated on the river Boyle. ”

“ Shannon and Collins were permited to pass the river in order to trade with the nativs and lay in a Store of roots and bread for themselves with their proportion of the merchendize as others had done; on landing on the opposit Shore the Canoe was driven broad Side with the full force of a very Strong Current against Some Standing trees and instantly filled with water and Sunk. Potts who was with them is an indifferent Swimer, it was with dificuelty he made the land. they lost three blankets and a Blanket Cappo and their pittance of Merchindize. ”

“ Long tracts of brown heath-clad mountain or not less unprofitable valleys of tall and waving fern were all that the eye could discern, except where the broad Shannon, expanding into a tranquil and glassy lake, lay still and motionless beneath the dark mountains, a few islands, with some ruined churches and a round tower, alone breaking the dreary waste of water. ”

“ Half an hour later, we pulled out of the Limerick terminus, circled about the town, crossed the Shannon by a long, low bridge, and were in County Clare.
Ruins are more numerous here than almost anywhere else in Ireland, for this western slope of the Shannon valley, so fertile and coveted, was famous fighting-ground. There are one or two in sight all the time, across the beautiful rolling meadows. Near Cratloe there are three, their great square keeps looming above the trees, and looking out across the wide Shannon estuary. ”

“ The face of the country gives every circumstance of beauty. From Killodeernan Hill, behind the new house building by Mr. Holmes, the whole is seen to great advantage. The spreading part of the Shannon, called Loch Derg, is commanded distinctly for many miles. It is in two grand divisions of great variety: that to the north is a reach of five miles leading to Portumna. The whole hither shore a scenery of hills, checkered by enclosures and little woods, and retiring from the eye into a rich distant prospect. ”

“ SEANN (Gadhelic) ,
old; e.g. Shanmullagh (the old summit) ; Shandrum (the old ridge) ; Shangarry (the old garden) ; Shanbally and Shanvally (the old dwelling) ; Shanbo, Shanboe, and Shanbogh (the old hut) , in Ireland; also Shankill (old church) , and Shandon, Irish Seandun (old fort) . There are several places in Ireland called Shannon from this word, but it is uncertain what is the origin of the R. Shannon, whose ancient name was Senos; Sanquhar, Gael. Seann-Cathair (the old fortress) , in Dumfriesshire, named from an old castle near the town.
SEE (Ger.) ,
ZEE (Dutch) ,
a lake or sea; e.g. ”

“ Shannon, mute and perplexed, set his coffee on the window sill and leaned back, flicking the ashes from his cigar; Harrod passed his hands slowly over his hollow temples: "Her parents are dead; she is not yet twenty; she is not equipped to support herself in life; and—she is beautiful. What chance has she, Shannon?" ”

“ But no man could restore to him the pride and self-respect that went when he realized that he was only one of several plucked and deluded victims of a female sharper. While the Frenchwoman ogled and languished behind the bars, Shannon wandered out into the world again, a deserter from the troop he was ashamed to face, an unfollowed, unsought fugitive among the mining camps in the Sierras. "Three stout soldiers stricken from the rolls—two of them gone to their last account," mused poor Plume, as at last he led his unhappy wife away to the sea, "and all the work of one woman!" ”

“ About three o'clock the wind fell, and we instantly loaded the canoes, and left the miserable spot to which we had been confined the last six days. On turning the point we came to the sand beach, through which runs a small stream from the hills, at the mouth of which was an ancient village of thirty-six houses, without any inhabitants at the time except fleas. Here we met Shannon, who had been sent back to us by Captain Lewis. The day Shannon left us in the canoe, he and Willard proceeded on till they met a party of twenty Indians, who, not having heard of us, did not know who they were ”

“ The whole descent of the Shannon, from its source in Loch Allen to the sea, a distance of 234 miles, is 146 feet, which is seven inches and a fraction in a mile, but it falls 97 feet in a distance of 15 miles, between Killaloe and Limerick, and occupies the remaining 219 miles in descending 49 feet. When water has once received an impulse by following a descent, the simple pressure of the particles upon each other is sufficient to keep it in motion long after its bed has lost all inclination. ”

“ A wild shore and a forbidding one, to arouse Shann's distrust, perhaps a fitting goal for that disk's guiding.
Shann had tasted loneliness in the mountains, experienced the strange world of the river at night lighted by the wan radiance of glowing shrubs and plants, forced the starkness of the heights. Yet there had been through all that journeying a general resemblance to his own past on other worlds. A tree was a tree, whether it bore purple foliage or was red-veined. A rock was a rock, a river a river. They were equally hard and wet on Warlock or Tyr. ”

“ As Shannon watched, a great light awoke within her, suddenly revealing the unsuspected existence of a wondrous thing that had come into her life—a thing which a moment later dragged her from her saddle and sent her stumbling down the hill into the burning ravine, to the side of Custer Pennington. ”

“ There were no men in sight; every man in the neighbourhood was at the races on New Year's day.
He found himself in a paddock where rough ground, thickly strewn with fallen timber, sloped down abruptly to a creek. Checking Shannon, he rode more steadily down to the water, and trotted along the bank for a hundred yards, looking for a good place to ford—the banks shelved abruptly down, and the water was unusually deep. ”

“ He turned, his shadowy face drooping, and Shannon followed to the avenue. There, in the white outbreak of electric lamps, he saw Harrod again as he had always known him, a hint of a smile in his worn eyes, the well-shaped mouth edged with laughter, and he was saying: "It's all in a lifetime, Shannon—and more than you suspect—much more. ”

“ Yes, this young man, this Ulick Shannon, was the son of Henry Shannon and Henry Shannon was the one who had brought the great darkness into her life.... It would [Pg 28] be queer, she thought, beyond all the queerness of the world, to see the son of that man and her son walking together through the valley. The things that must be said of them, the terrible sneer by which they would be surrounded—Henry Shannon's son and the son of Nan Byrne.... ”

“ Myles Shannon lived a quiet life there in his big house among the trees upon the side of Scarden, one of the hills which overlooked the valley. In lonely, silent moments he often thought of his brother Henry and of the strange manner in which he had burned out his life. With the end of his brother before him always as a deterrent example, he did not interest himself in women. He interested himself in the business of his cattle and sheep all through each and every day of the [Pg 65] year. ”