Lough MacNean ()Placenames Database of Ireland
/ref> is a large freshwater lake on the border between

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 ...

and the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

. It is in two parts. Lower Lough MacNean (or Lough Nilly),The English Cyclopedia 1867 Page 498 " ... and is connected by a short stream about half a mile in length with Lough Nitty (sometimes called Lower Lough Macnean), .." the smaller eastern lake, is wholly within

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 ...

(in Northern Ireland). Upper Lough MacNean, the larger western lake, is split between Fermanagh, County Cavan and

County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; gle, Contae Liatroma) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the ...

(in the Republic of Ireland). On the strip of land between the two lakes are the villages of

Belcoo Belcoo ( ()Flanagan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 172. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. is a small village and townland in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, from Enniskillen. It is on the County Fermanagh/ County Cavan border besi ...

(Fermanagh) and Blacklion (Cavan). A river runs between the villages, linking the eastern and western lakes.Ordnance Survey Ireland: Map Viewer
/ref> The shape of Lough MacNean changed during the 1960s when a major draining operation took place; before this, the lake was used for

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

, but dredging during the drainage process decimated their numbers.

Islands

;Upper Lough MacNean *Bilberry Island *Garrow (or Buck) Islands *Inishkeen *Inishteig *Kilrooskagh Island () *Patrick's Island *Port Island *Rosscorkey Island *Trawnish () *Tuam Island () ;Lower Lough MacNean *Cushrush Island *Inishee () Cushrush, Inishteig, Kilrooscagh and Rosscorkey are now fayed to the land by small bridges. Cushrush seems to have been dwelt since the Mesolithic period as many

microlithic A microlith is a small Rock (geology), stone tool usually made of flint or chert and typically a centimetre or so in length and half a centimetre wide. They were made by humans from around 35,000 to 3,000 years ago, across Europe, Africa, Asia an ...

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and sta ...

tools have been found there. There are also the remains of two

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; one in each lake. These were small manmade (or partially manmade) islands used as dwellings in ancient times.

References

External links

The Lough Macnean Valley
– Northern Ireland Environment Agency Lakes of County Fermanagh Lakes of County Cavan Lakes of County Leitrim {{Leitrim-geo-stub

Islands

See also

References

External links