River Avoca

{{about||the river in Australia|Avoca River|the rivers in New Zealand|Avoca River, New Zealand}} [[File:Meeting of the Waters, Avoca, Ireland, 1882.jpg|right|thumb|The view in Moore's time.]] [[File:TommyMoore5016w.jpg|right|thumb|Thomas Moore at the ''Meeting of the Waters''.]] The '''Avoca''' ({{lang-ga|Abhainn Abhóca}}; historically '''Abhainn Mhór / Abhainn Dé''') is a [[river]] in [[County Wicklow]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]. It is contained completely within the county. The Avoca starts life as two rivers, the [[River Avonmore|Avonmore]] ({{irish place name|Abhainn Mhór|Big River}}) and the [[River Avonbeg|Avonbeg]] ({{irish place name|Abhainn Bheag|Small River}}). These join together at a spot called the [[Meeting of the Waters]] (''Cumar an dá Uisce'') in the ''Vale of Avoca'', which is considered a local beauty spot, and was celebrated by [[Thomas Moore]] in his song of the same name. {{Cquote| ''There is not in the wide world a valley so sweet,
''As the vale in whose bosom the bright waters meet;
''Oh, the last rays of feeling and life must depart,
''Ere the bloom of that valley shall fade from my heart.''}} The village of [[Avoca, Ireland|Avoca]] is situated on the river. The Avoca flows into the [[Irish Sea]] at [[Arklow]] where it widens into a large estuary, giving Arklow its Irish language name ''an t-Inbhear Mór'' (the big inlet). ==Industry== The valley of the Avoca has a large copper mine, and further downstream was the NET fertiliser factory (closed since 2002). These are said to have contributed greatly to pollution in the lower reaches of the river. ==Transport== The [[rail transport in Ireland|railway line]] from [[Dublin]] to [[Wexford]] (and [[Rosslare Europort|Rosslare]]) also passes along the Vale of Avoca, cutting inland from its mainly coastal route and the [[R752 road]] tightly follows the west bank of the Avoca from ''The Meetings'' to Arklow. ==External links== *[http://www.360eire.com/360eire/Laighean/CillMantain/Meetingofthe%20Waters/CumarandaUisce.html Virtual Tour from Meeting of the Waters] {{IrishRivers}} {{County Wicklow}} {{coord missing|County Wicklow}}