The Three Sisters (Ireland)

The Three Sisters are three rivers in Ireland: the River Barrow, the River Nore and the River Suir. The Suir and Nore rise in the same mountainous area in County Tipperary, near the Devil's Bit, while the Barrow rises in the Slieve Blooms Mountains in County Laois. All three join the sea in the same bay southwest of the city of Waterford. In between, they fan out to drain a large portion of the southern part of the island, including counties Tipperary, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford and Waterford, among others.

The Barrow Bridge crosses two of the three sisters, the Nore and the Barrow. They then join the River Suir just downstream of the bridge. This place is known in Irish as Cumar na dTrí Uisce, "the confluence of the three waters". The three sisters can be only be seen from the village of Cheekpoint co. Waterford. However, since the Nore joins the Barrow some twenty kilometres north of Cheekpoint (about four kilometres north of New Ross) it is only the combined waters of the three sisters that can be seen here (OSI Map 76), not three separate rivers. The combined waters of all three sisters are then visible all the way down the estuary from Cheekpoint on.

In ancient times, the area bounded by the Suir and the Barrow formed the Kingdom of Ossory. This name is retained today for dioceses in both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland.