Honouring Berba: A Celebration of Heritage & Ecology

Berba is the river’s first name, recorded in early Irish narrative, including the Dindshenchas — the medieval body of texts cataloguing the origin stories of Irish placenames. Like all of Ireland’s great rivers — the Boyne (Boann), the Shannon (Sionnan) — the Barrow takes its name from a goddess. Over centuries of colonisation, anglicisation and the patriarchal rewriting of Irish folklore, her story was lost to the communities living alongside her.

Over two years, we rebuilt Berba’s creation story from surviving medieval sources: the Metrical Dindshenchas, the Rennes Dindshenchas, the Acallam na Senórach and Timna Chathaír Máir; alongside consultation with folklore scholars in Ireland and abroad. The more people we spoke with, the more we questioned who actually authored these manuscripts and how the feminine kinship had been erased before ink hit paper. We spoke with people who insisted Berba was not a goddess, that women had no place in sacred realms, and where was our proof. Our journey became about the unwritten, the ancestral voices deliberately left out, and the storylines we filled from our hearts.

To reclaim this heritage, we gathered the fragmented lore and spent time at Berba’s source, where we felt her wisdom while listening to the water and the mountain’s breath. A contemporary folklore scéal was born — a reimagined myth rooted in ancient truth but written for our changing times.

Ultimately, old folktales weren’t just storytelling; they were moral tales, designed to serve as societal warnings. Our story blends traditional wisdom with modern eco-literacy, inviting us to reconnect with Berba as a living, breathing entity that requires our care and understanding.

The story is now published in the Earth Stories Collection (Volume 3), an international body aligned with the UNESCO-endorsed Earth Charter, in English and Spanish. It is the first Irish entry in the collection and was displayed at the Peace Palace in The Hague for the Earth Charter’s 25th Anniversary in July 2025.

Berba of the Three Sisters

Since the dawn of humanity, Berba has whispered to the people of her shores. Ancient belief held that water was a portal to other worlds and all of Ireland’s great rivers came from Conla’s well of knowledge, surrounded by nine hazel trees bearing crimson nuts of wisdom. When these nuts fell, salmon ate them, carrying their knowledge through Ireland’s river arteries. Seven sacred streams flowed from Conla’s well, each carrying ancient stories and spirits.

One scéal tells of Dagda, the warrior god, hunting three young otters across the waterways of the Otherworld. Dagda chased them through Tír na nÓg; as they passed the threshold of the elf-mound, the young otters became the flow of Berba, Siur and Eoir. These three sisters flowed through the lungs of Rowan, Holly, Hawthorn, Hazel and Oak, before meeting again at one estuary. Berba, the eldest, travelled farthest searching for Siur and Eoir — silently witnessing the deeds of all who came before, and all that will come, if we protect her and the life around her.