Templehouse Lough (;
also ''Templehouse Lake'') is a
freshwater lake in the northwest of Ireland. It is located in south
County Sligo
County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the an ...
and forms part of the course of the Owenmore River.
Geography
Templehouse Lough lies about south of
Sligo and west of
Ballymote
Ballymote () is a market town in southern County Sligo, approx. 24 km south east of Sligo town in the province of Connacht, which is located in the north-west of Ireland. Ballymote lies in the barony of Corran. A commuter town with a st ...
. The lake covers in area and is about long from north to south. The lake has numerous
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 ...
s (artificial islands).
[
]
Hydrology
Templehouse Lough is fed by the Owenmore River and other streams entering at the lake's southern end. The lake drains north into the continuation of the Owenmore River, which then flows north to join the Ballysadare River
The Ballisodare River ( ga, Abhainn Bhaile Easa Dara; also spelled ''Ballysadare'') is a river in Ireland, flowing through County Sligo.
Course
The Ballisodare River derives from three other Sligo rivers: the Unshin River, the Owenmore River ...
.[
]
Natural history
Fish present in Templehouse Lough include roach, 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.[ A number of duck species winter at the lake including ]teal
alt=American teal duck (male), Green-winged teal (male)
Teal is a greenish-blue colour. Its name comes from that of a bird — the Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca'') — which presents a similarly coloured stripe on its head. The word is oft ...
, wigeon
The wigeons or widgeons are a group of birds, dabbling ducks currently classified in the genus ''Mareca'' along with two other species. There are three extant species of wigeon, in addition to one recently extinct species.
Biology
There are ...
, mallard, tufted duck
The tufted duck or tufted pochard (''Aythya fuligula'') is a small diving duck with a population of close to one million birds, found in northern Eurasia. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek '' aithuia'', an unidentified seabird ment ...
and goldeneye
''GoldenEye'' is a 1995 spy film, the seventeenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Martin Campbell, it was the first in the se ...
. Wader
245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots
Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...
bird species include lapwing
Lapwings (subfamily Vanellinae) are any of various ground-nesting birds (family Charadriidae) akin to plovers and dotterels. They range from in length, and are noted for their slow, irregular wingbeats in flight and a shrill, wailing cry. A gro ...
, curlew
The curlews () are a group of nine species of birds in the genus ''Numenius'', characterised by their long, slender, downcurved bills and mottled brown plumage. The English name is imitative of the Eurasian curlew's call, but may have been in ...
and Greenland white-fronted goose. Other bird species found at the lake include mute swan, great crested grebe
The great crested grebe (''Podiceps cristatus'') is a member of the grebe family of water birds noted for its elaborate mating display.
Taxonomy
The great crested grebe was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in t ...
and heron.[
Templehouse Lough is part of the Templehouse and Cloonacleigha Loughs ]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 ...
as a hard water lake habitat.[
]
See also
* List of loughs in Ireland
References
{{Reflist, refs =
[{{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
[{{Google maps , url = https://www.google.com/maps/place/Templehouse+Lake,+Co.+Sligo,+Ireland/@54.1033328,-8.5891667,14z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x485eb8c0d8c4b47f:0xb69538673581e176?hl=en , title = Templehouse Lake , access-date = 26 May 2015]
[{{cite web , url = http://www.wfdfish.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Templehouse_report1.pdf , title = Sampling Fish for the Water Framework Directive - Templehouse Lake , publisher = Inland Fisheries Ireland , date = October 2011 , access-date = 26 May 2015]
[{{cite web , url = http://www.npws.ie/sites/default/files/protected-sites/synopsis/SY000636.pdf , title = Templehouse and Cloonacleigha Loughs 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 ...
, access-date = 26 May 2015
[{{cite web , url = http://wfdfish.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Templehouse_prelim_report_2014.pdf , title = Preliminary Synopsis of the WFD Surveillance Monitoring Fish Stock Survey on Templehouse Lake , publisher = ]Inland Fisheries Ireland
Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI; ga, Iascach Intíre Éireann) is a state agency responsible for fisheries management of freshwater fish and coastal fish with 12 nautical miles of the shore. A separate agency, Bord Iascaigh Mhara, is responsible f ...
, date = October 2014 , access-date = 26 May 2015
Templehouse