Lady's Island Lake () is a

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

lake in the south of

County Wexford County Wexford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. The lake is technically a back-barrier seepage

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...

, one of only two in Ireland. The other is nearby

Tacumshin Lake Tacumshin Lake () is a lake in Tacumshane, in the southeast of County Wexford, Ireland. It is designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA) under the EU Bird Directive (EC/79/409) and a Special Area of Conservation by the National Parks and Wil ...

. The lake has no natural outlet, but is separated from the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

at the southern end by a sand and gravel

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

200 m wide.

Salt water Saline water (more commonly known as salt water) is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts (mainly sodium chloride). On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) salinity scale, saline water is saltier than brackish wate ...

seeps through the barrier, while

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salt (chemistry), salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include ...

flows into the lake from run-off from the land around the lake. This means that the lake is neither fresh nor salt water but somewhere in between. The bar is breached or "cut" mechanically for

drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils can prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic conditions that harm root gro ...

in an annual event locally known as the "''Cutting of the Lake''". This is done by the Lady's Island Lake Drainage Committee in association with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, but historical records mention the cut in the seventeenth century. The sandbar is also breached by occasional storms when salt water flows in from the sea, increasing the salt levels considerably. Wildlife in the lake must therefore be able to cope with variable levels of

salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt (chemistry), salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensio ...

. The lake is an important breeding ground for

tern Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae, subfamily Sterninae, that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated in eleven genera in a subgroup of the family Laridae, which also ...

s. It is estimated that the lake is home to over 1,200 breeding pairs of

Sandwich tern The Sandwich tern (''Thalasseus sandvicensis'') is a tern in the family Laridae. It is very closely related to the lesser crested tern (''T. bengalensis''), Chinese crested tern (''T. bernsteini''), Cabot's tern (''T. acuflavidus''), and el ...

s and, more importantly, to 150 breeding pairs of the rare

roseate tern The roseate tern (''Sterna dougallii'') is a species of tern in the family Laridae. The genus name ''Sterna'' is derived from Old English "stearn", "tern", and the specific ''dougallii'' refers to Scottish physician and collector Dr Peter McD ...

; this is the second largest colony in Europe. At the north end of the lake is the village of Lady's Island or Our Lady's Island. The 'island' itself has been joined to the mainland by a causeway, so it is actually a peninsula sticking out into the lake from the village. On the peninsula are a castle, a leaning tower, church ruins and a graveyard. The leaning tower is a small stone tower which was built on unstable ground and now leans at an angle. The space in front of the castle is a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

site associated with the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

: the pilgrimage takes place in August each year, when believers come from all over Ireland to gather and pray.

Public transport access

Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with the exception of Dublin, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subsidiary of C ...

route 378 provides a link between

Wexford railway station Wexford railway station (O'Hanrahan Station, ) is a railway station located in Wexford Town in County Wexford, Ireland. Description The station is part of the Dublin–Rosslare railway line. It is staffed and fully accessible. It consists of ...

and Our Lady's Island on Fridays.

References

External links

{{Authority control Lakes of County Wexford Protected areas of County Wexford Roman Catholic pilgrimage sites in Ireland

Public transport access

See also

References

External links