Awbeg River is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

in the southern part of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It is a tributary of the

Blackwater River A blackwater river is a type of river with a slow-moving channel flowing through forested swamps or wetlands. As vegetation decays, tannins leach into the water, making a transparent, acidic water that is darkly stained, resembling black te ...

and flows into that larger river at a point in

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

. Its name comes from the

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

''Abha Bheag'' ("small river", a slightly older form than the modern Irish name).The source of this information is a site that credits Buttevant: A Short Story produced 1991 by trainees on the F.A.S. Community Youth Training Program.

The course

There are two contributories of the Awbeg. The first rises in

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Munster , subdivision ...

as the Gralgne River and enters County Cork a half mile north-east of Ardskeagh Cross Roads, then flows west under a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

bridge and south under Farran bridge on the Buttevant/Charlevllle road.In this case, the source is not clear as to why Gralgne is referred to as a branch of Awbeg rather than its own river. The second branch rises about two miles north of

Liscarroll Liscarroll () is a village in County Cork, Ireland The village is located on the R522 regional road near Mallow and Buttevant about two miles south of River Awbeg. Liscarroll is within the Cork North-West (Dáil constituency). Liscarroll is ...

and flows south and then north and west under Annagh Bridge to join the first branch at Scart Bridge. From there, the river flows south through

Buttevant Buttevant ( or ''Ecclesia Tumulorum'' in the Latin) is a medieval market town, incorporated by charter of Edward III of England, Edward III, situated in North County Cork, Ireland. While there may be reason to suggest that the town may occup ...

and east through

Doneraile Doneraile (), historically Dunerayl, is a town in County Cork, Ireland. It is on the R581 regional road east of the N20 road, which runs from Limerick to Cork. It is about north of Mallow town. It is on the River Awbeg, a branch of the ...

, turns south near

Shanballymore Shanballymore (, colloquially ''Shanbla'') is a small village in north County Cork, Ireland. It neighbours the towns of Doneraile, Kildorrery and Castletownroche, and is off the main route from Mallow to Mitchelstown. Shanballymore is part of ...

and through

Castletownroche Castletownroche () is a townland, village, and civil parish in the barony of Fermoy, County Cork, Ireland. It is located on the N72 national secondary road. In ancient times, it was known in Irish as ''Dún Chruadha'', meaning Cruadha's Fort. ...

to enter the Blackwater at Poulcormac near Bridgetown Abbey.

Ecology

North of Buttevant the river flows through flat

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

land, while south of Buttevant the river generally flows through a narrow, steep-sided

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

with wooded sides. For the most part the river flows over

Carboniferous limestone Carboniferous Limestone is a collective term for the succession of limestones occurring widely throughout Great Britain and Ireland that were deposited during the Dinantian epoch (geology), Epoch of the Carboniferous period (geology), Period. T ...

.National Parks & Wildlife Service
/ref> The river supports a range of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

species including

dropwort Dropwort is a common name for several plants and may refer to: *'' Filipendula vulgaris'', an herb in the family Rosaceae, growing in dry meadows in Europe and Asia *'' Oenanthe'', a genus of plants in the family Apiaceae, growing in moist habitats ...

pondweed Pondweed refers to many species and genera of aquatic plants and green algae: *''Potamogeton'', a diverse and worldwide genus *''Elodea'', found in North America *''Aponogeton'', in Africa, Asia and Australasia *''Groenlandia ''Groenlandia'' is ...

, club-rush, water-cress and ''

Ranunculus ''Ranunculus'' is a large genus of about almost 1700 to more than 1800 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus are known as buttercups, spearworts and water crowfoots. The genus is distributed in Europe ...

''. The river is largely fringed by a narrow strip of marsh vegetation, dominated by reed-canary grass. The Awbeg is a breeding ground for

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes wea ...

s and supports a significant population of

Atlantic salmon The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlantic salmon are ...

. The site supports a population of

white-clawed crayfish ''Austropotamobius pallipes'' is an endangered European freshwater crayfish, and the only crayfish native to the British Isles. Its common names include white-clawed crayfish and Atlantic stream crayfish. Distribution It is found from the eas ...

, a threatened species.

Old bridges

Blake's Bridge, an old

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

bridge over the Awbeg River in Buttevant, was widened at some time in the past. The masonry is unusual similar to that found at a nearby

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

. The ancient

clapper bridge A clapper bridge is an ancient form of bridge found on the moors of the English West Country (Bodmin Moor, Dartmoor and Exmoor) and in other upland areas of the United Kingdom including Snowdonia and Anglesey, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, La ...

near

Ballybeg Abbey Ballybeg Priory (Irish: ), also known as Ballybeg Abbey, the Abbey of St Thomas, and St Thomas's Priory, is a 13th-century priory of the Augustinian order near the town of Buttevant, County Cork, Ireland. It is home to one of the best preserved ...

was erected in the 13th century by the

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

Friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...

s of Ballybeg for convenience in crossing the Awbeg to their mill and lands beyond. It is constructed of huge slabs of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

that are about 3 m long, equally wide, and each weighing a ton. The transverse slabs measure 2.7 m to 3.0 m in length and are wide and thick in proportion and each weighs a tonne.

Knockanare Well

Knockanare Well Knockanare Well is a holy well in County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is situated on the left bank of the River Awbeg, about a half-mile east of Buttevant and southeast of the Ballyhoura Mountains. A Sheela na Gig once stood next to t ...

is situated on the left bank of the Awbeg river, about a half-mile east of Buttevant and southeast of the

Ballyhoura Mountains The Ballyhoura Mountains ( ga, An Sliabh Riabhach) are located in south-east County Limerick and north-east County Cork in central Munster, running east and west for about 6 miles on the borders of both counties. Features The southern part of th ...

Gentle Mullagh

Edmund Spenser Edmund Spenser (; 1552/1553 – 13 January 1599) was an English poet best known for ''The Faerie Queene'', an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognized as one of the premier craftsmen of ...

referred to the Awbeg as "the gentle Mullagh" (or Mulla) and resided at

Kilcolman Castle Kilcolman Castle is a tower house located in County Cork, Ireland. It was formerly the residence of the poet Edmund Spenser. Location Kilcolman Castle is located east-northeast of Buttevant, on the northeast edge of Kilcolman Bog, near the u ...

in its vicinity.

References

{{coord missing, County Cork

Awbeg Awbeg River is a river in the southern part of Ireland. It is a tributary of the Blackwater River and flows into that larger river at a point in County Cork. Its name comes from the Irish ''Abha Bheag'' ("small river", a slightly older form th ...