Lough Tay (Irish: ''Loch Té''), is a small but scenic lake set on private property in the

Wicklow Mountains The Wicklow Mountains (, archaic: ''Cualu'') form the largest continuous upland area in the Republic of Ireland. They occupy the whole centre of County Wicklow and stretch outside its borders into the counties of Dublin, Wexford and Carlow. Wh ...

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 ...

. The lake lies between the mountains of

Djouce Djouce () at , is the 74th–highest peak in Ireland on the Lists of mountains in Ireland#Arderins, Arderin scale, and the 91st–highest peak on the Lists of mountains in Ireland#Vandeleur-Lynams, Vandeleur-Lynam scale.Mountainviews, (September ...

, and

Luggala Luggala (), also called Fancy Mountain () at , is the 230th-highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin scale. Being below , it does not rank on the Vandeleur-Lynam or Hewitt scales. Luggala is in the northeastern section of the Wicklow Mounta ...

, and is dominated by Luggala's east-facing granite cliffs. The lough is fed by the Cloghoge River, which then drains into

Lough Dan Lough Dan ( ga, Loch Deán) is a scenic boomerang-shaped ribbon lake largely set on private property, in the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland. Lough Dan lake lies at the base of Luggala and Knocknacloghoge mountains. The lough is fed by the Clogho ...

to the south. Lough Tay forms part of the

Guinness Estate Luggala (), also called Fancy Mountain () at , is the 230th-highest peak in Ireland on the Lists of mountains in Ireland#Arderins, Arderin scale. Being below , it does not rank on the Lists of mountains in Ireland#Vandeleur-Lynams, Vandeleur- ...

at Luggala, and has limited public access.

Naming

The English name derives from the Irish name, Loch Té, meaning 'tea lake', because of its similarity to strong Irish tea. The nickname, 'The Guinness Lake' name comes from the former owners of the land. The lake is part of the former Guinness estate, owned by Arthur Guinness. Another claimed reason for it to be called the "Guinness Lake" is that the Guinness family imported white sand and laid it over a beach on the northern shore of the lake to make it look like a pint of Guinness.

Scenic viewpoint

The view into Lough Tay (with the cliffs of Luggala behind) is a popular scenic viewpoint in Wicklow and is easily viewed from one of the several car-parks along the R759 road (e.g. Ballinastoe Wood, and the J.B. Malone car-parks). A short hike up the first boardwalked section of the path to the summit of Djouce mountain, to the ''

J.B. Malone John James Bernard (J.B.) Malone (13 December 1913 – 17 October 1989) was an Irish hill-walking enthusiast who popularised the pastime through his television programmes and books. He was responsible for the establishment of the Wicklow Way ...

memorial stone'' (part of the 131-kilometre Wicklow Way trail), is another popular scenic viewpoint of the lough.

Culture

Bertrand Russell

The philosopher

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...

said that when he was young he twice visited Ireland with his Aunt Agatha he visited Lough Tay. He visited on his own and with

Michael Davitt Michael Davitt (25 March 184630 May 1906) was an Irish republican activist for a variety of causes, especially Home Rule and land reform. Following an eviction when he was four years old, Davitt's family migrated to England. He began his caree ...

and he said that the beautiful scenery made a profound impression on him and highlighted the small lake at Lugala. He returned half a century later with his friend Crompton Davies and they revisited Lugala but they looked over it from a wood set above the lake rather than the pebbly shore Russell remembered. This experience convinced Russell that one should not try and renew old memories.

Vikings

Lough Tay is the setting for the fictional village of ''Kattegat'' in the 2013 television historical drama series ''

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

''.

Other film usage

Lough Tay features prominently in other films including the 1974 film

Zardoz ''Zardoz'' is a 1974 science fantasy film written, produced, and directed by John Boorman and starring Sean Connery and Charlotte Rampling. It depicts a post-apocalyptic world (which Boorman says, in the audio commentary, may or may not be ma ...

and 1981 film ''

Excalibur Excalibur () is the legendary sword of King Arthur, sometimes also attributed with magical powers or associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. It was associated with the Arthurian legend very early on. Excalibur and the Sword in th ...

'' by

John Boorman Sir John Boorman (; born 18 January 1933) is a British film director, best known for feature films such as ''Point Blank'' (1967), ''Hell in the Pacific'' (1968), ''Deliverance'' (1972), ''Zardoz'' (1974), '' Exorcist II: The Heretic'' (1977), ...

Gallery

File:J B Malone Memorial.jpg,

memorial stone on

. File:Kattegat, Vikings TV series, Wicklow.jpg, Set of ''Kattegat'' on television series, ''

''. File:Looking towards Lough Tay from the road. - geograph.org.uk - 19564.jpg, View into Luggala Castle. File:Guinness Estate Luggala Ireland.jpg, Lough Tay,

, and Luggala Castle. File:Looking into the valley into Lough Dan and Lough Tay.jpg, Cloghoge River between Lough Tay and

File:Lough Tay, County Wicklow, Ireland.jpg, Luggala Estate

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tay Lakes of County Wicklow