Hi Mary,
The way to pronounce the word ‘Suir’ is Sure as in being positive. Hope this is of some help. If you want any other information just send me an e mail

Regards, Phil

Phil– Thanks so much!! For “sure” you are a great guy! 🙂

S is only pronounced sh in Irish if it precedes e or i, otherwise it is Sssss. Think of the names Seán and Síle (Shawn and Sheela).  The river’s name is much closer to the English sewer than to sure.

Suir is only the rivers name in English. In Irish is An tSiúr or Abhainn na Siúire. The I following the S, as Mairtín wrote, gives the S the pronunciation SH. So it’s (more or less) “un toor” or “Ow! en nah shoo-ih-reh”. That influences the pronunciation in English, so Suir is pronounced “shoor”.