Later spellings include Muaide, Muadam, Múed, Múaid; the name An Mhuaidh is used in modern Irish.

[5] For the greater part of its length, it flows southwestward, entering County Mayo and passing near Swinford before passing through Foxford then turning north near the village of Kilmore and heading for the town of Ballina, where it enters the Atlantic Ocean at Killala Bay.

The Moy Estuary is eight kilometres (5 miles) long beginning at Ballina and running into Killala Bay.

[7] The entrance to the River Moy from an 1860 chart, showing turbulent water over the bar.

According to central fisheries board statistics, 101,231 returning salmon were taken by drift nets off the west coast of Ireland in 2005.