BANN  , the

principal river in the north of Ireland . Rising in the Mourne mountains in the south of the Co . Down it runs N.W. until it enters Lough Neagh (q.v.), which it drains N.N.W. to an estuary at Coleraine, forming Lough Beg immediately below the larger lough . The length of its valley (excluding the lesser windings of the river) is about 90 m . The total drainage area, including the other important feeders of Lough Neagh, is about 2300 sq. m., extending westward to the confines of the Co . Fermanagh, and including parts of the Cos . Down and Antrim, Armagh and Monaghan, Tyrone and Londonderry . The river has valuable salmon fisheries, but is not of much importance for navigation . Above Lough Neagh it is known as the Upper Bann and below as the Lower Bann .