Starting in the Devil's Bit Mountain, County Tipperary, the river flows generally southeast, and then south, before its confluence with the River Barrow at Ringwood, and the Barrow railway bridge at Drumdowney, County Kilkenny, which empties into the Celtic Sea at Waterford Harbour, Waterford.

"[8] Modern Irish feora means "green bank, edge or shore of sea, lake or river".

Major tributaries of the Nore include the Dinan, the Breagagh at Kilkenny City, the King's River, the Little Arrigle and the Black Water.

The river has a fairly steep gradient but the flow is checked by innumerable weirs and it is probably true to say that shallow glides are the pre-dominant feature.

[13] Salmon runs on the river Nore were interrupted in 2005 and 2006 by a flood relief scheme in Kilkenny city carried out by the Office of Public Works.