This title charts the history and character of Ireland's second longest river, from the Slieve Bloom mountains to the sea in Waterford. Irish history is viewed through the prism of this waterway: from the early tribal kingdoms of the Celts, to the Vikings and Normans who made their way up the estuary, leaving a legacy of castles, abbeys, monasteries and towns, to the Tudor and Cromwellian settlements on the fertile plains of Carlow and Kildare, from Quaker bridge-builders to Huguenot refugees. This riverine narrative embraces legend and lore, literature and anecdote. It opens up a little-known part of Ireland's countryside and heritage, and forms a chronicle encompassing the medieval poet Edmund Spenser and novelist Sean O'Faolain.