Sligo
Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the List of urban areas ...
and
Roscommon
Roscommon (; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60, N61 and N63 roads.
The name Roscommon is derived from Coman mac Faelchon who built ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. It is 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 Int ...
protecting 1,788 ha of which most (1,742 ha) is covered by a
Ramsar Site
A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O)
*** Permanent 8 ha (P)
*** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts)
**
Coolavin
Coolavin (Irish ''Cúl ó bhFionn'') is a barony in south County Sligo, Ireland. It was created from the ancient túath of An Corann.
The O'Garas were originally Lords of Coolavin. They were succeeded by the MacDermotts, a family of the Mile ...
district from about the thirteenth century, renamed the lake "Loch Uí Ghadhra". The first documented reference appeared in 1285. Even though the family lost control of all their Coolavin townlands about 1650, their name has remained on the lake to the present day. The area around Lough Gara is referred to as "O'Gara heartland".
Location and size
Lough Gara is situated mainly in south County Sligo with a smaller part of the lake in County Roscommon. From north to south the lake spans about four miles. The widest section is a two and a half mile span. The lake lies south west of the Curlew Mountains with the town of
Ballaghaderreen
Ballaghaderreen () is a town in County Roscommon, Ireland. It was part of County Mayo prior to 1898. It is located just off the N5 National primary road. The population was 1,808 in the 2016 census.
History
As of 1837, the town was recorde ...
situated almost four miles to the southwest and the town of
Boyle
Boyle is an English, Irish and Scottish surname of Gaelic, Anglo-Saxon or Norman origin. In the northwest of Ireland it is one of the most common family names. Notable people with the surname include:
Disambiguation
*Adam Boyle (disambiguation), ...
positioned just over four miles from its north eastern corner.
Water is supplied to the lake by the
Lung River
The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of ...
, which enters at the southwestern angle, and the Breedoge River, which enters the lake at the southeastern angle. From the main upper lake the outflow is through the northeastern corner at Cuppanagh, the channel has one wide stretch about a mile long, which is called Lower Lough Gara. From that point the water flow is termed the Boyle River which flows past the town of
Boyle
Boyle is an English, Irish and Scottish surname of Gaelic, Anglo-Saxon or Norman origin. In the northwest of Ireland it is one of the most common family names. Notable people with the surname include:
Disambiguation
*Adam Boyle (disambiguation), ...
into
Lough Key
Lough Key ( gle, Loch Cé) is a lake in Ireland. It is in the northwest of County Roscommon, northeast of the town of Boyle. The lough is believed to be named after a mythical figure named Cé.
Name
The name ''Lough Key'' comes from the Irish ' ...
and on to the Shannon. The lake has a number of islands. The main upper lake is divided into two sections with a strip of land and Clooncunny Bridge in between.
Iron age crannogs
Many of the islands on Lough Gara are man-made islands called
crannóg
A crannog (; ga, crannóg ; gd, crannag ) is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes and estuarine waters of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Unlike the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, which were bu ...
s. An article on ''Iron Age Crannogs in Lough Gara'' was published in ''Archaeology Ireland'' (Volume 14 No.2 Issue No.52 Summer 2000). The author of the essay, Christina Fredengran, the archaeologist who recently worked on a few of the sites, points out that some of the man-made islands were built over two thousand years ago.
Gara
''Gara'' (Basque: ''We Are'') is a bilingual (Basque/Spanish) newspaper published in the city of Donostia-San Sebastián in the Basque Autonomous Community. The newspaper's target market comprises the area of the Basque Country, but its cir ...
Gara
''Gara'' (Basque: ''We Are'') is a bilingual (Basque/Spanish) newspaper published in the city of Donostia-San Sebastián in the Basque Autonomous Community. The newspaper's target market comprises the area of the Basque Country, but its cir ...