Nore Catchment

The Nore catchment is located in the south eastern half of the country. It includes the area drained by the River Nore and all streams entering tidal water between its confluence with the River Barrow at Ringwood and the Barrow railway bridge at Drumdowney, Co. Kilkenny, draining a total area of 2,595km². The Nore Catchment area covers parts of several counties, including Carlow, Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly, Tipperary and Wexford. The largest urban centre in the catchment is Kilkenny City, the other main urban centres in this catchment are Abbeyleix, Callan and Thomastown. The larger of the many tributaries include Delour, Dinin, Erkina, Owveg, Arrigle and King’s Rivers on the Nore. The Nore catchment is divided into 21 subcatchments, comprising 123 river waterbodies, five transitional waterbodies, and 48 groundwater bodies. Of the 128 surface water bodies, 123 are river water bodies and five are transitional waterbodies.

The most recent EPA report “Water Quality in Ireland 2019-2024” showed that a total of 38% of Nore surface waterbodies were at Good or High Ecological Status. Between the 2016-2021 and 2019-2024 monitoring periods resulted in the loss one waterbody achieving a good or high status, during this same monitoring period, 16 waterbodies improved in status, and 15 deteriorated in status. The campaign aims to support farmers to improve water quality where it is not yet satisfactory in areas where agriculture is an issue.

Read more about the Better Farming for Water campaign in the Nore catchment in the Nore Catchment Action Plan.