Lough Neagh
Lough Neagh | |
---|---|
Location | Northern Ireland |
Coordinates | 54°37′06″N 6°23′43″W / 54.61833°N 6.39528°W |
Primary inflows | Upper Bann, Six Mile Water, Glenavy River, Crumlin River, Blackwater, Moyola River, Ballinderry River, River Main[1] |
Primary outflows | Bann River |
Catchment area | 1,760 sq mi (4,550 km2) |
Basin countries | Northern Ireland (91%) Republic of Ireland (9%) |
Max. length | 19 mi (30 km) |
Max. width | 9.3 mi (15 km) |
Surface area | 151 sq mi (392 km2) |
Average depth | 30 ft (9 m) |
Max. depth | 82 ft (25 m) |
Water volume | 7.76×1011 imp gal (3.528 km3) |
Islands | (see below) |
Designated | 5 January 1976 |
Lough Neagh, sometimes Loch Neagh,[3] (pronounced /ˌlɒx ˈneɪ/, lokh nay) is a freshwater lake in Northern Ireland. It is the biggest lake in Northern Ireland, supplying forty percent of its water; the biggest on the island of Ireland, the biggest by area in the United Kingdom, and the biggest by area in the British Isles.[4][5] Its name comes from Irish Loch nEachach, meaning 'Lake of Eachaidh', although today it is usually spelt Loch nEathach (Irish: [ɫ̪ɔx ˈn̠ʲahax]) in Irish.[6] The lough is owned by the Earl of Shaftesbury.
Geography
With an area of 151 square miles (392 km2), it is the largest lake on the Island of Ireland, the fifteenth largest freshwater lake within the European Union[4][5] and is ranked thirty-first in the List of largest lakes of Europe. Located twenty miles (30 km) to the west of Belfast, it is about twenty miles (30 km) long and nine miles (15 km) wide. It is very shallow around the margins and the average depth in the main body of the lake is about thirty feet (9 m), although at its deepest the lough is about 80 feet (25m) deep.
Hydrology
Of the 1,760 square miles (4,550 km2) catchment area, around nine percent lies in the Republic of Ireland and 91% in Northern Ireland;[7] altogether 43% of the land area of Northern Ireland is drained into the lough,[8] which itself flows out northwards to the sea via the River Bann. As one of its sources is the Upper Bann, the Lough can itself be considered as part of the Bann. Lough Neagh is fed by many tributaries including the rivers Main (34mi), Six Mile Water (21mi), Upper Bann (40mi), Blackwater (57mi), Ballinderry (29mi) and Moyola (31mi)[9]
Islands and peninsulas
- Coney Island
- Coney Island Flat
- Croaghan Flat
- Derrywarragh Island
- Kinturk Flat
- Oxford Island (peninsula)
- Padian
- Ram's Island
- Phil Roe's Flat
- The Shallow Flat
- Traad (peninsula)
Towns and villages
Towns and villages near the Lough include Craigavon, Antrim, Crumlin, Randalstown, Toomebridge, Ballyronan, Ballinderry, Moortown, Ardboe, Maghery, Lurgan and Magherafelt.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/Northern_Ireland_-_Counties.png/250px-Northern_Ireland_-_Counties.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/NI11w.jpg/250px-NI11w.jpg)
Counties
Five of the six counties of Northern Ireland have shores on the Lough (only Fermanagh does not), and its area is split among them. The counties are listed clockwise:
- Antrim (eastern side and northern shore of the lake)
- Down (small part in the south-east)
- Armagh (south)
- Tyrone (west)
- Londonderry (northern part of west shore)
Local Government Districts
The area of the lake is split between four Local Government Districts of Northern Ireland, which are listed clockwise: [10]
- 3 Antrim and Newtownabbey, in the north-east
- 4 Lisburn and Castlereagh, in the east
- 6 Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon, in the south
- 9 Mid Ulster, in the west
Uses
Although the Lough is used for a variety of recreational and commercial activities, it is exposed and tends to get extremely rough very quickly in windy conditions.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/LoughNeaghandenvirons.png/300px-LoughNeaghandenvirons.png)
Water supply
The lough is used by Northern Ireland Water as a source of fresh water. The lough supplies forty percent of the region's drinking water. There have long been plans to increase the amount of water drawn from the lough, through a new water treatment works at Hog Park Point, but these are yet to materialise. The lough's ownership by the Earl of Shaftesbury has implications for planned changes to state-run domestic water services in Northern Ireland, as the lough is also used as a sewage outfall, and this arrangement is only permissible through British Crown immunity.[11] In 2012, it was reported that the Earl is considering transferring ownership of the Lough to the Northern Ireland Assembly.[12]
Navigation
Traditional working boats on Lough Neagh include wide-beamed 4.9-to-6.4-metre (16 to 21 ft) clinker-built, sprit-rigged working boats and smaller flat-bottomed "cots" and "flats". Barges, here called "lighters", were used until the 1940s to transport coal over the lough and adjacent canals. Until the 17th century, log boats (coití) were the main means of transport. Few traditional boats are left now, but a community-based group on the southern shore of the lough is rebuilding a series of working boats.[13]
In the 19th century, three canals were constructed, using the lough to link various ports and cities: the Lagan Navigation provided a link from the city of Belfast, the Newry Canal linked to the port of Newry, and the Ulster Canal led to the Lough Erne navigations, providing a navigable inland route via the River Shannon to Limerick, Dublin and Waterford. The Lower Bann was also navigable to Coleraine and the Antrim coast, and the short Coalisland Canal provided a route for coal transportation. Of these waterways, only the Lower Bann remains open today, although a restoration plan for the Ulster Canal is currently in progress.
Lough Neagh Rescue provides a search and rescue service 24 hours a day. It is a voluntary service funded by the District Councils bordering the Lough. Its members are highly trained and are a declared facility for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency who co-ordinate rescues on Lough Neagh.
Bird watching
Lough Neagh attracts bird watchers from many nations due to the number and variety of birds which winter and summer in the boglands and shores around the lough.
Fishing
Eel fishing has been a major industry in Lough Neagh for centuries. These European eels make their way from the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, some four thousand miles along the Gulf Stream to the mouth of the River Bann, and then make their way into the Lough. They remain there for some ten to fifteen years, maturing, before returning to the Sargasso to spawn. Today Lough Neagh eel fisheries export their eels to restaurants all over the world, and the Lough Neagh Eel has been granted Protected Geographical Status under European Union law.[14]
Mythology and folklore
In the Irish mythical tale Cath Maige Tuired ("the Battle of Moytura"), Lough Neagh is called one of the twelve chief lochs of Ireland.[15] The origin of the lake and its name is explained in an Irish tale that was written down in the Middle Ages, but is likely pre-Christian.[16][17] According to the tale, the lake is named after Echaid (modern spelling: Eochaidh or Eachaidh), who was the son of Mairid (Mairidh), a king of Munster. Echaid falls in love with his stepmother, a young woman named Ébliu (Ébhlinne). They try to elope, accompanied by many of their retainers, but someone kills their horses. In some versions, the horses are killed by Midir (Midhir), which may be another name for Ébliu's husband Mairid. Óengus (Aonghus) then appears and gives them an enormous horse that can carry all their belongings. Óengus warns that they must not let the horse rest or it will be their doom. However, after reaching Ulster the horse stops and urinates, and a spring rises from the spot. Echaid decides to build a house there and covers the spring with a capstone to stop it overflowing. One night, the capstone is not replaced and the spring overflows, drowning Echaid and most of his family, and creating Loch n-Echach (Loch nEachach: the lake of Eochaidh or Eachaidh).[16][17]
The character Eochaidh refers to The Daghdha, a god of the ancient Irish who was also known as Eochaidh Ollathair (meaning "horseman, father of all").[17] Ébhlinne, Midhir and Aonghus were also names of deities. Mary McGrath and Joan Griffith write that the idea of a supernatural being creating the landscape with its own body is an ancient one common to many pre-Christian cultures.[17] A Gaelic sept called the Uí Eachach (meaning "descendents of Eochaidh") dwelt in the area and it is likely that their name comes from the cult of the god Eochaidh.[16]
Another tale tells how the lake was formed when Ireland's legendary giant Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool) scooped up a chunk of earth and tossed it at a Scottish rival. It fell into the Irish Sea, forming the Isle of Man, while the crater left behind filled with water to form Lough Neagh.[18]
Gallery
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Lough Neagh at Killywoolaghan, County Tyrone
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Lough Neagh near Ardmore Point
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Lough Neagh at Shane's Castle, County Antrim
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Lough Neagh at Gawley's Gate, County Antrim
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Lough Neagh at Maghery, County Armagh
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Lough Neagh at Ballyronan, County Londonderry
See also
References
- ^ Habitas.org
- ^ Naijural Heirship: Peat Mosses NI Environment and Heritage Service.
- ^ See Google Books for published examples online.
- ^ a b Official Tourism Ireland site
- ^ a b Britannica.com
- ^ Deirdre Flanagan and Laurance Flanagan, Irish Placenames, (Gill & Macmillan Ltd, 1994)
- ^ "Lough Neagh". UK Environmental Change Network. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
- ^ Northern Ireland Rivers Agency
- ^ Ordnance Survey of Ireland: Rivers and their Catchment Basins 1958 (Table of Reference)
- ^ Ninis.nisra.gov.uk
- ^ "Sudden death may impact NI water". BBC News. 19 May 2005.
- ^ "Earl of Shaftesbury does not rule out Lough Neagh sale". BBC News.
- ^ Lough Neagh Boating Heritage Association
- ^ Official list of UK protected foods. Accessed 15 July 2011.
- ^ Augusta, Lady Gregory. Part I Book III: The Great Battle of Magh Tuireadh. Gods and Fighting Men (1904) at Sacred-Texts.com.
- ^ a b c Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí. Myth, Legend & Romance: An encyclopaedia of the Irish folk tradition. Prentice Hall Press, 1991. p.181
- ^ a b c d Mary McGrath, Joan C. Griffith. The Irish Draught Horse: A History. Collins, 2005. p.44
- ^ Lough Neagh Heritage: Folklore & Legends
Further reading
- Wood, R.B.; Smith, R.V., eds. (1993). Lough Neagh: The Ecology of a Multipurpose Water Resource. Monographiae Biologicae. Vol. 69. Springer. ISBN 9780792321125.
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External links
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