Ballysaggart Lough or Black Lough is a
lough in
Dungannon
Dungannon () is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 14,340 at the 2011 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council had its headquarters in the ...
,
County Tyrone,
Northern Ireland. It is within the
drainage basin of the
River Blackwater which flows out of
Lough Neagh
Lough Neagh ( ) is a freshwater lake in Northern Ireland and is the largest lake in the island of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the British Isles. It has a surface area of and supplies 40% of Northern Ireland's water. Its main inflows come ...
.
It is part of the waterway created to service mills in nearby
Moygashel.
The lough has an area of .
Bally Saggart Lough came under the ownership of
Mid Ulster District Council
Mid Ulster District Council ( ga, Comhairle Ceantair Lár Uladh; Ulster-Scots: ''Mid Ulstèr Airts Cooncil'') is a local authority that was established on 1 April 2015. It replaced Cookstown District Council, Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough ...
in 2014 and the Council are looking to improve public access to the Lough.
In 2002 a man drowned after getting into difficulties swimming across it.
The Ballysaggart Environmental Group was formed in 2004 to protect the unique habitat in and around the Lough.
102 species of bird have been recorded at the Lough, 18 of which are "on the endangered list".
[ Species recorded include Eurasian curlew, Eurasian teal and hen harrier, ]mallard
The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...
, Eurasian wigeon, common goldeneye and whooper swan.[ In 2006 a ]vagrant
Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...
drake lesser scaup was photographed on the lough,Iceland gull
The Iceland gull (''Larus glaucoides'') is a medium-sized gull that breeds in the Arctic regions of Canada and Greenland, but not in Iceland (as its name suggests), where it is only seen during winter. The genus name is from Latin ''larus'', whic ...
, glaucous gull
The glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus'') is a large gull, the second-largest gull in the world. It breeds in Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and winters south to shores of the Holarctic. The genus name is from Latin ''larus'', which a ...
and yellow-legged gull.[ This may refer to a Franciscan Priory on Drumbearn Hill at Castlecaulfield which opened in 1687, before moving to Donnaghmore and lasted until 1816-17 when the last friar died.]
See also
*List of loughs in Ireland
This is an alphabetical list of loughs (lakes) on the island of Ireland. It also shows a table of the largest loughs. The word ''lough'' is pronounced like ''loch'' () and comes from the Irish ''loch'', meaning ''lake''.
According to the Environm ...
References
External links
Ballysaggart Environmental Group
{{Authority control
Lakes of County Tyrone