Shannonbridge

Shannonbridge (Irish: Droichead na Sionainne)[2] is a village located on the River Shannon, at the junction of the R444 and R357 regional roads in County Offaly, Ireland.

Its location along Ireland's largest river and its proximity to Clonmacnoise have contributed to tourism being a key contributor to the local economy.

The physical environment consists of the River Shannon, callows, boglands and the Esker Riada (a major routeway in the 18th century).

The military may have initially constructed a village, the 'first Shannonbridge', in the vicinity of Temple Duff graveyard just south of the power station.

It was here that a proselytising Saint Patrick ostensibly crossed the Shannon into Connacht, and much later the Anglo-Normans considered the ford important enough to be guarded by one of their campaign forts.

[13] In August 2009, Ireland's first ever Climate Camp was held in the village, bringing activists from all over the country to a field next to the West Offaly Power Station.

For a week they protested against the extraction and burning of peat in the station, on the grounds that it releases large quantities of carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere.

The River Shannon, which flows through the area, provides a habitat for a number of species of local flora, include types of algae, reeds and grasses.

[citation needed] Bird varieties on the Shannon include swans (Bewick's, mute and whooper), moorhens, swallows, terns, ducks and corncrakes.

[18] The Callows is a stretch of the River Shannon at Shannonbridge that has a shallow gradient which results in seasonal flooding when heavy rain occurs.

[4] Shannonbridge Gaelic Athletic Association club have won one Offaly Senior Football Championship title, which they achieved in 1996 by defeating Tullamore.

Fort and bridge
ESB Power Station