Wise River – New Town
‘Sion Abhainn’ or wise river is the longest in the country, along the 360km of riverbanks and callows people have lived, boated, fished and farmed, for centuries. In the 1960’s a new town was built on reclaimed marshland along the estuary below Limerick city. The former Rineanna became Shannon town, and this new town focused on its airport and growing industrial estate. The planned layout of the town turned its back to the river, protected by embankments built to counter the threat of flooding. No fishing or pleasure boating here, the estuary is wide, tidal and very muddy.