Lough O'Flynn () is a freshwater lake in the west of Ireland. It is located in west County Roscommon and is the source of the
River Suck
The River Suck ( ga, An tSuca ) is a river within the Shannon River Basin in Ireland, 133 km (82.5 mi) in length. It is the main tributary of the River Shannon. It meets the Shannon a kilometre south of the village of Shannonbridge.
...
.
Name
The name is from the
Gaelic Irish
The Gaels ( ; ga, Na Gaeil ; gd, Na Gàidheil ; gv, Ny Gaeil ) are an ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man in the British Isles. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languag ...
tribe of the Ó Floinn, who ruled the region known as Síol Maelruain in the Middle Ages. The tribe was one of the main families in Kiltullagh parish.
Geography
Lough O'Flynn measures about long and wide. It is located about east of
Ballyhaunis
Ballyhaunis () is a town in County Mayo, Ireland. It is at the crossroads of the N60 and N83 National secondary roads and on the railway line linking Dublin to Westport and Ballina.
It is thought that the town grew up around St Mary's Augu ...
, just north of the village of Ballinlough and is the source of the
River Suck
The River Suck ( ga, An tSuca ) is a river within the Shannon River Basin in Ireland, 133 km (82.5 mi) in length. It is the main tributary of the River Shannon. It meets the Shannon a kilometre south of the village of Shannonbridge.
...
. There is an artificial island known as a
crannog
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 ...
in the lake; this is believed to date back to the Medieval period, when it would have been used as a place of safety to retreat to when under attack. There are marked trails along bog tracks leading around the lake, with views of the lake and river as well as surrounding areas of bog scrub, coniferous woodland and open peatland.
perch
Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Per ...
pike
Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to:
Fish
* Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus''
* Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes
* ''Esox'', genus of ...
and the critically endangered European eel. Beside the lake is a raised bog, the Carrowbehy/Caher Bog, a
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 a ...
. Active raised bogs have a high percentage of
sphagnum moss
''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, peat moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store w ...
and new peat is being formed; in this case, there are hummocks and extensive quaking areas and many large steep-sided pools intersecting with each other. Besides the moss, typical plants are bogbean,
cotton grass
''Eriophorum'' (cottongrass, cotton-grass or cottonsedge) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cyperaceae, the sedge family. They are found throughout the arctic, subarctic, and temperate portions of the Northern Hemisphere in acid bo ...
,
bog sedge Bog sedge is a vernacular name for any of the following plants:
*'' Carex limosa''
* ''Carex magellanica'' subsp. ''irrigua'' (formerly ''Carex paupercula'')
*''Kobresia
''Kobresia'' is a genus of plants in the sedge family. They are sometimes ...
bog asphodel
''Narthecium ossifragum'', commonly known as bog asphodel, Lancashire asphodel or bastard asphodel, is a species of flowering plant in the family Nartheciaceae. It is native to Western Europe, found on wet, boggy moorlands up to about in ele ...
cross-leaved heath
''Erica tetralix'', the cross-leaved heath, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae, native to western Europe, from southern Portugal to central Norway, as well as a number of boggy regions further from the coast in Central Europ ...
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{{Google maps , url = https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lough+O'Flynn,+Co.+Roscommon,+Ireland/@53.7653738,-8.6489153,14z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x485c02865d5f3ebb:0x5943e491666f7543?hl=en , title = Lough O'Flynn , access-date = 29 December 2015{{cite report , last1 = Free , first1 = Gary , last2 = Little , first2 = Ruth , last3 = Tierney , first3 = Deirdre , last4 = Donnelly , first4 = Karol , last5 = Caroni , first5 = Rossana , name-list-style = amp , url = https://www.epa.ie/publications/research/water/Final-Report-(2000-FS1-M1).pdf#page=19 , title = A Reference Based Typology and Ecological Assessment System for Irish Lakes , date = 2006 , pages = 13 , publisher =
Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland)
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for protecting and improving the environment as a valuable asset for the people of Ireland. It operates independently under the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.
H ...
, access-date = 12 October 2022{{cite web , url = http://wfdfish.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/OFlynn_report_2014.pdf , title = Sampling Fish for the Water Framework Directive : Lough O'Flynn , publisher = Inland Fisheries Ireland , date = July 2014 , access-date = 29 December 2015{{cite web , url = https://www.logainm.ie/en/110091 , title = Loch Uí Fhloinn/Lough O'Flynn , work = Placenames Database of Ireland (logainm.ie) , publisher = Government of Ireland - Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and
Dublin City University
Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) ( ga, Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a university based on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin'' in 1975, it enrolled its ...
, accessdate = 30 January 2020{{cite web , url = http://www.npws.ie/sites/default/files/protected-sites/synopsis/SY000597.pdf , title = Carrowbehy/Caher Bog SAC , publisher =
National Parks and Wildlife Service (Ireland)
The National Parks and Wildlife Service () manages the Irish State's nature conservation responsibilities. As well as managing the national parks, the activities of the NPWS include the designation and protection of Natural Heritage Areas, Special ...