Carlingford Lough (, Ulster Scots: ''Carlinford Loch'') is a glacial

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Icel ...

or sea inlet in northeastern Ireland, forming part of the border between

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

to the north and the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

to the south. On its northern shore is County Down, the

Mourne Mountains The Mourne Mountains ( ; ga, Beanna Boirche), also called the Mournes or Mountains of Mourne, are a granite mountain range in County Down in the south-east of Northern Ireland. They include the highest mountains in Northern Ireland, the hig ...

, and the town of

Warrenpoint Warrenpoint ( ga, An Pointe) is a small port town and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It sits at the head of Carlingford Lough, south of Newry, and is separated from the Republic of Ireland by a narrow strait. The town is bes ...

; on its southern shore is

County Louth County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of County Meath, M ...

, the Cooley Mountains and the village of Carlingford. The Newry River flows into the loch from the northwest.

Name

The English name Carlingford and the Irish name ''Loch Cairlinn'' come from the

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...

''Kerlingfjǫrðr'', meaning "narrow sea-inlet of the

hag HAG is a Swiss maker of model trains. The company was founded by Hugo and Alwin Gahler on 1 April 1944 in St. Gallen, Switzerland. The Gahler brothers originally manufactured model trains in O scale but due to competition, particularly by Mär ...

" or old woman. This may have referred to the three mountain tops, locally called The Three Nuns, frequently used as pilot points on entering the lough. Its earlier Irish name was ''Snámh Aighneach'', meaning "swift sea-channel". It could also mean "swift swimming-place", referring to a crossing point which could be swum by horses, probably

Narrow Water Narrow Water Castle ( ga, Caisleán an Chaoil; Ulster-Scots: ''Narra Wattèr Castle'') is a 16th-century tower house and bawn near Warrenpoint in Northern Ireland. It is beside the A2 road and on the County Down bank of the Clanrye (Newry) Ri ...

. An older English name was Nury ( Newry) Bay.

Geography

The Newry River and the Newry Canal link the

lough ''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots and Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is cognate with the Manx lough, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh words for lake, llwch. In English English and Hiberno-English, the anglicised sp ...

to the nearby city of Newry (the

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface f ...

continues on towards the River Bann and Lough Neagh; the river, under the name River Clanrye, loops around County Down). The only other glacial

s in Ireland are Lough Swilly and Killary Harbour. On the northern coast, in County Down, are the coastal towns of

and

Rostrevor Rostrevor () is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the foot of Slieve Martin on the coast of Carlingford Lough, near Warrenpoint. The Kilbroney River flows through the village and Rostrevor Forest is nea ...

, backed by the

. On the southern coast are Omeath, Carlingford and Greenore backed by the Cooley Mountains, all on the Cooley Peninsula in

Tourism

The area has been a tourist destination since Victorian times when the railway between Dublin and Belfast was opened. Situated approximately halfway between the two cities, the access to the area combined with its scenery and sheltered location are still factors in its popularity today.

Flora and fauna

The northern shores have extensive mudflats and

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...

es which provide winter feeding areas for the pale-bellied brent goose (''Branta bernicla hrota''). At the mouth of the lough are several small rock and shingle islands which are breeding areas for terns that feed in its shallow waters. Carlingford Lough - panoramio

Protected areas

The lough is designated as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Inte ...

. The Carlingford Lough Ramsar site (wetlands of international importance designated under the

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It ...

), is 830.51 hectares in area, at latitude 54 03 00 N and longitude 06 07 00 W. It was designated a Ramsar site on 9 March 1998. It is a cross-border site, with the northern shore lying within Northern Ireland (including the lough's more extensive mudflats and a salt marsh), and the southern shore lying in the Republic of Ireland (where the Carlingford Lough Special Protection Area falls within the scope of the National Parks and Wildlife Service).

Transport

Railway

is the nearest station located on the Dublin-Belfast railway line with trains running on the

Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterprise ...

between Belfast Central, Portadown and Dublin Connolly, whilst other trains may call at additional stations en route to Belfast Great Victoria Street. Until its closure in the early 1950s, the southern side of the lough was served by the Dundalk, Newry and Greenore (DNG) railway line. Sections of this line now form part of the Carlingford Lough greenway.

Navigation

The lough is navigable, and its seaward entrance is marked by the Haulbowline Lighthouse, which was built in 1824. There is a deep water cargo port at Greenore, and a smaller fishing harbour at Carlingford. A commercial marina lies north of Carlingford town, close to the start of the greenway.

References

External links

Carlingford.ie - Carlingford and Cooley Tourism AssociationOmeath.ie - Omeath and Carlingford area informationBBC.co.uk - Information on Carlingford Lough Disaster (1916)
{{Authority control Special Protection Areas in Northern Ireland Sea loughs of the Republic of Ireland Ramsar sites in Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border Transboundary protected areas Important Bird Areas of Northern Ireland Important Bird Areas of the Republic of Ireland Protected areas of County Down Sea loughs of Northern Ireland Landforms of County Louth Landforms of County Down Fjords of Ireland Fjords of the Republic of Ireland