Editing River Shannon (section)

==Etymology and folklore==
===Sionnann===
[[File:Myths and legends; the Celtic race (1910) (14760458156).jpg|thumb|upright|An illustration, titled "Sinend and Connla's Well", from ''Myths and Legends; the Celtic Race'' (1910) by [[T. W. Rolleston]] ]]
According to [[Irish mythology]], the river was named after a woman (in many sources a member of the [[Tuatha de Danaan]]) named Sionann (older spelling forms: Sínann or Sínand), the granddaughter of [[Manannán mac Lir]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Mícheál O Súilleabháin |title=Global aspirations and the reality of change |editor=Harry Bohan and Gerard Kennedy |chapter=Listening to difference: Ireland in a world of music |chapter-url=http://www.catholicireland.net/books-a-media/193-moral-issues-a-values/443-global-aspirations-and-the-reality-of-change |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404074405/http://www.catholicireland.net/books-a-media/193-moral-issues-a-values/443-global-aspirations-and-the-reality-of-change |archive-date=4 April 2012}}</ref> She went to [[Connla's Well]] to find wisdom, despite having been warned not to approach it. In some sources she, like [[Fionn mac Cumhaill]], caught and ate the [[Salmon of Knowledge|Salmon of Wisdom]] who swam there, becoming the wisest being on Earth, in others, she merely drank from the well. At any rate, the waters of the well are said to have burst forth, drowning Sionann, and carrying her out to sea.<ref name=":0">Monaghan, Patricia. ''The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore''. Infobase Publishing, 2004. p.420</ref> Notably, a similar tale is told of [[Boann]] and the [[River Boyne]]. It is said that Sionann thus became the goddess of the river. Patricia Monaghan notes that "The drowning of a goddess in a river is common in Irish mythology and typically represents the dissolving of her divine power into the water, which then gives life to the land".<ref>Monaghan, p.27</ref>

A small myth about Sionann tells that the legendary hunter-warrior [[Fionn mac Cumhaill]] was attacked by a number of other warriors at Ballyleague, near north Lough Ree.  It is said that when Fionn was near to defeat, Sionnan rescued him, and he arrived with the Stone of Sionann, threw the stone, and the warriors were immediately killed.  It further says that Fionn was afraid of the power of the stone and threw it into the river, where it remains at a low [[Ford (crossing)|ford]], and that if a woman named Be Thuinne finds it, then the world's end is near.<ref name=":0" />

===Creatures===
The Shannon reputedly hosts a river monster named Cata, the first known mention being in the medieval [[Book of Lismore]]. In this manuscript, we are told that [[Senán mac Geirrcinn|Senán]], patron saint of [[County Clare]], defeated the monster at [[Inis Cathaigh]].<ref>[http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/folklore/folklore_survey/chapter8.htm A Folklore Survey of County Clare: Supernatural Animals] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110907080705/http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/folklore/folklore_survey/chapter8.htm |date=7 September 2011 }}. Clarelibrary.ie. Retrieved on 23 July 2013.</ref> Cata is described as a large creature with a horse's mane, gleaming eyes, thick feet, nails of iron, and a whale's tail.<ref>Cata The Monster of Shannon Waves : A true Story by Shane Mac Olon</ref> Another story has an [[oilliphéist]] flee its home in the Shannon, upon hearing that [[Saint Patrick]] has arrived to remove its kind from Ireland.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4649686/4647061|title=The Schools' Collection, Volume 0210, Page 152|website=Duchas.ie|access-date=19 March 2020|archive-date=25 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191025192426/https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4649686/4647061|url-status=live}}</ref>