Caragh Lake ( ga, Loch Cárthaí), also Lough Caragh, is a lake in the

Reeks District Tourism in the Republic of Ireland is one of the biggest contributors to the economy of Ireland, with 9.0 million people visiting the country in 2017, about 1.8 times Ireland's population. Each year about €5bn in revenue is made from econ ...

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

, Ireland. The lake was formed by the damming of the

Caragh River The River Caragh () is a river in County Kerry in southwestern Ireland. The river has a catchment area of about , comes under the protection of a Special Area of Conservation ("Killarney National Park, MacGillycuddy's Reeks and Caragh River Cat ...

Caragh Lake railway station Caragh Lake railway station was on the Great Southern and Western Railway which ran from Farranfore to Valentia Harbour in the Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north- ...

was on the

Great Southern and Western Railway The Great Southern and Western Railway (GS&WR) was an Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland from 1844 until 1924. The GS&WR grew by building lines and making a series of takeovers, until in the late 19th and early 20th centuries it was the ...

line which ran from

Farranfore Farranfore () is a village in County Kerry, Ireland. It lies on the N22 road approximately midway between Tralee (10 miles or 17 km) and Killarney (9 miles or 15 km) and on the railway line connecting the two towns. Farranfor ...

Valentia Harbour Valentia Island () is one of Ireland's most westerly points. It lies off the Iveragh Peninsula in the southwest of County Kerry. It is linked to the mainland by the Maurice O'Neill Memorial Bridge at Portmagee. A car ferry also departs from R ...

Ecology

The lake is included within a large

Special Area of Conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

: Killarney National Park, Macgillycuddy's Reeks and Caragh River Catchment SAC. The rare

Kerry slug The Kerry slug or Kerry spotted slug (''Geomalacus maculosus'') is a species of terrestrial, pulmonate, gastropod mollusc. It is a medium-to-large sized, air-breathing land slug in the family of roundback slugs, Arionidae. Adult Kerry slu ...

was first discovered near this lake. Viney, Michael
"Problems with plan for protection of slugs"
''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'', 15 May 2010. The lake is glacial in origin.

References

Lakes of County Kerry {{Kerry-geo-stub

Ecology

See also

References