Larne Lough, historically Lough Larne (), is a sea loch or inlet in

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

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

. It lies between the

Islandmagee Islandmagee () is a peninsula and civil parish on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, located between the towns of Larne and Whitehead. It is part of the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council area and is a sparsely populated rural ...

peninsula and the mainland. At its mouth is the town of

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight roll-on roll-off port. Larne is administered by Mid ...

. It is designated as an area of special scientific interest, a

special protection area A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certa ...

, and a Ramsar site to protect the

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

environment, particularly due to the presence of certain

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

species and shellfish.

Name

The lough takes its name from the small medieval territory of Latharna meaning "descendants of Lathair". The older name for the lough was ''Loch Ollarbha'' or ''Inbhear nOllarbha'', from ''Ollarbha'', the ancient name of the Larne Water.

Places of interest

Chaine Memorial Tower lighthouse is on the west side of the entrance to Larne Lough.

Flora and fauna

In 1929, a "Coastal Survey" of the algae of the north-east of Ireland was begun when a few members of the Botanical Society in

The Queen's University of Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

investigated and mapped the distribution of the

seaweeds Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of '' Rhodophyta'' (red), ''Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ''Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ...

. Among the algae recorded was ''

Ascophyllum nodosum ''Ascophyllum nodosum'' is a large, common cold water seaweed or brown alga (Phaeophyceae) in the family Fucaceae, being the only species in the genus ''Ascophyllum''. It is a seaweed that only grows in the northern Atlantic Ocean, also known in ...

'' var. ''minor'' Turn.Lynn, M.J. 1960 Coastal survey X (new series) southern end of Larne Lough, Co. Antrim. ''Ir. Nat. J.'' 13:159–163. The northern end was also surveyed.Lynn, M.J. 1961. Coastal survey XI (new series) northern end of Larne Lough, Co. Antrim. ''Ir. Nat. J.'' 13:223–227.

Railway line

The Belfast-Larne railway line brings the line alongside the shore line from Larne Harbour, Larne Town, Glynn,

Magheramorne Magheramorne () is a hamlet in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is about 5 miles south of Larne on the shores of Larne Lough. It had a population of 75 people in the 2001 Census. Following the reform of Northern Ireland's local government syst ...

, and

Ballycarry Ballycarry () is a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is midway between Larne and Carrickfergus, overlooking Islandmagee, and is part of the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council area. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 981. Ar ...

, over the section of land linking

to Whitehead railway station then running alongside

Belfast Lough Belfast Lough is a large, intertidal sea inlet on the east coast of Northern Ireland. At its head is the city and port of Belfast, which sits at the mouth of the River Lagan. The lough opens into the North Channel and connects Belfast to ...

via

Carrickfergus Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,998 at the 2011 Census. It is County Antrim's oldest ...

and Belfast Central to

Belfast Great Victoria Street railway station Great Victoria Street is a railway station serving the city centre of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is one of two major stations in the city, along with , and is one of the four stations located in the city centre, the others being Lanyon Place ...

References

{{County Antrim Ramsar sites in Northern Ireland Areas of Special Scientific Interest in County Antrim Special Protection Areas in Northern Ireland Larne Sea loughs of Northern Ireland Landforms of County Antrim Bodies of water of Northern Ireland Estuaries of Europe

Name

Places of interest

Flora and fauna

Railway line

See also

References