River Avoca
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| River Avoca Abhainn Abhóca |
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| Origin | The Meeting of the Waters, County Wicklow. |
| Mouth | Irish Sea at Arklow. |
The Avoca (Irish: Abhainn Abhóca; historically Ovoca) is a river in County Wicklow, Ireland. It is contained completely within the county. The Avoca starts life as two rivers, the Avonmore (Irish: Abhainn Mhór, meaning Big River) and the Avonbeg (Irish: Abhainn Bheag, meaning Small River). These join together at a spot called the Meeting of the Waters (the Vale of Avoca), which is considered a local beauty spot, and was celebrated by Thomas Moore in his song of the same name.
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There is not in the wide world a valley so sweet, |
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The village of Avoca is situated on the river.
The Avoca flows into the Irish Sea at Arklow where it widens into a large estuary, giving Arklow its Irish language name an t-Inbhear Mór (the big inlet).
The valley of the Avoca has a large copper mine, and further downstream is the NET fertiliser factory (closed since 2002). These are said to have contributed greatly to pollution in the lower reaches of the river.
The railway line from Dublin to Wexford (and Rosslare) also passes along the Vale of Avoca, cutting inland from its mainly coastal route and the R752 tightly follows the west bank of the Avoca from The Meetings to Arklow.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
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