Lough Derg is the third-largest
lakeA lake is a terrain feature , a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin and moves slowly if it moves at all. Another definition is, a body of fresh or salt water of considerable size that is surrounded by land...
(or
loughA lough is a body of water and is either:* A lake.* A sea lough, which may be a fjord, estuary, bay, or sea inlet.It can also be used as a surname, with various pronunciations: law, loch, low, lowe, loth, loff....
) in
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
(after
Lough NeaghLough Neagh — — is a freshwater lake in Northern Ireland.-Geography:With an area of 392 square kilometres , it is the largest lake in the British Isles and ranks among the forty largest lakes of Europe...
and
Lough CorribLough Corrib is a lake in the west of Ireland. The River Corrib/Galway river connects the lake to the sea at Galway. It is the second largest loch in Ireland . It covers some 165.6km²....
) and the second-largest in the
Republic of IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
. It is a long, relatively narrow lake, with shores in counties
North TipperaryNorth Tipperary is an administrative county in Ireland, consisting of 48% of the land area of the traditional county of Tipperary. North Tipperary was established in 1898, and has had a county council ever since, with separate assize courts since 1838. The county seat is Nenagh...
(to the east),
GalwayCounty Galway is one of the traditional Counties of Ireland. It is located in the province of Connacht. It was named after the city of Galway...
(north-west), and
ClareCounty Clare commonly referred to as simply Clare, is a county of Ireland and part of the wider province of Munster. Clare is one of the 26 counties within the Republic of Ireland and it provides a basis for local government, in the form of its own constituency within the Dáil Éireann...
(south-west). The lake is the last of three on the
River ShannonThe River Shannon is, at 386 km , the longest river in Ireland. It divides the west of Ireland from the east and south . County Clare, being west of the Shannon but part of the province of Munster, is the major exception...
, with the other two,
Lough ReeLough Ree is a lake in the midlands of Ireland, the second of the three major lakes on the River Shannon. Lough Ree is the second largest lake on the Shannon after Lough Derg. The other two major lakes are Lough Allen to the north, and Lough Derg to the south, there are also several minor lakes...
and
Lough AllenLough Allen is a lake situated on the River Shannon, in the north-central part of Ireland, near Ireland's border region. Most of the lake is in County Leitrim, with a smaller portion in County Roscommon. The lake lies to the south of the river's source, near the Iron Mountains, and is the...
lying further north. Some
townA town is a type of settlement ranging from a few hundred to several thousand inhabitants, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas; the precise meaning varies between countries and is not always a matter of legal definition...
s or villages on Lough Derg include Garrykennedy,
PortumnaPortumna is a town in the South-East of County Galway, Ireland, on the border with County Tipperary. The town is located to the West of the point where the River Shannon enters Lough Derg...
,
KillaloeKillaloe is a large village in east County Clare, Ireland, situated in the midwest of Ireland. The village is on the south end of Lough Derg, while the settlement spreads across the River Shannon, with the County Tipperary side known as Ballina...
&
BallinaBallina is a village that lies on the River Shannon in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is a scenic area on the eastern shore of Lough Derg.It is a 'twin-town' of Killaloe, in County Clare, on the west bank of the lake. The two towns are joined by the bridge in the picture.For a long period of time,...
,
DromineerDromineer is a small village in County Tipperary, Ireland, situated on the shores of Lough Derg on the River Shannon. Home to an 11th century towerhouse, idyllic scenery, a public harbour and other facilities, it is a popular place to visit, especially for those out boating on the lake...
,
TerryglassTerryglass is a village situated in County Tipperary in Ireland, in the area of the county known as North Tipperary. It is located on the R493 regional road on the North-eastern shore of Lough Derg near where the River Shannon enters the Lough. Terryglass won the Irish Tidy Towns Competition in...
and
MountshannonMountshannon is a village in east County Clare, Ireland. The village is on the western shore of Lough Derg, north of Killaloe.-History:The village was designed and built from scratch by Alexander Woods, a Limerick merchant, who intended it as a purely Protestant settlement from which the...
.
At its deepest, the lake is 36 metres deep and covers an
areaArea is a quantity expressing the two-dimensional size of a defined part of a surface, typically a region bounded by a closed curve. The term surface area refers to the total area of the exposed surface of a 3-dimensional solid, such as the sum of the areas of the exposed sides of a polyhedron...
of 118 km² (45.5 sq miles).
Lough Derg is the third-largest
lakeA lake is a terrain feature , a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin and moves slowly if it moves at all. Another definition is, a body of fresh or salt water of considerable size that is surrounded by land...
(or
loughA lough is a body of water and is either:* A lake.* A sea lough, which may be a fjord, estuary, bay, or sea inlet.It can also be used as a surname, with various pronunciations: law, loch, low, lowe, loth, loff....
) in
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
(after
Lough NeaghLough Neagh — — is a freshwater lake in Northern Ireland.-Geography:With an area of 392 square kilometres , it is the largest lake in the British Isles and ranks among the forty largest lakes of Europe...
and
Lough CorribLough Corrib is a lake in the west of Ireland. The River Corrib/Galway river connects the lake to the sea at Galway. It is the second largest loch in Ireland . It covers some 165.6km²....
) and the second-largest in the
Republic of IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
. It is a long, relatively narrow lake, with shores in counties
North TipperaryNorth Tipperary is an administrative county in Ireland, consisting of 48% of the land area of the traditional county of Tipperary. North Tipperary was established in 1898, and has had a county council ever since, with separate assize courts since 1838. The county seat is Nenagh...
(to the east),
GalwayCounty Galway is one of the traditional Counties of Ireland. It is located in the province of Connacht. It was named after the city of Galway...
(north-west), and
ClareCounty Clare commonly referred to as simply Clare, is a county of Ireland and part of the wider province of Munster. Clare is one of the 26 counties within the Republic of Ireland and it provides a basis for local government, in the form of its own constituency within the Dáil Éireann...
(south-west). The lake is the last of three on the
River ShannonThe River Shannon is, at 386 km , the longest river in Ireland. It divides the west of Ireland from the east and south . County Clare, being west of the Shannon but part of the province of Munster, is the major exception...
, with the other two,
Lough ReeLough Ree is a lake in the midlands of Ireland, the second of the three major lakes on the River Shannon. Lough Ree is the second largest lake on the Shannon after Lough Derg. The other two major lakes are Lough Allen to the north, and Lough Derg to the south, there are also several minor lakes...
and
Lough AllenLough Allen is a lake situated on the River Shannon, in the north-central part of Ireland, near Ireland's border region. Most of the lake is in County Leitrim, with a smaller portion in County Roscommon. The lake lies to the south of the river's source, near the Iron Mountains, and is the...
lying further north. Some
townA town is a type of settlement ranging from a few hundred to several thousand inhabitants, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas; the precise meaning varies between countries and is not always a matter of legal definition...
s or villages on Lough Derg include Garrykennedy,
PortumnaPortumna is a town in the South-East of County Galway, Ireland, on the border with County Tipperary. The town is located to the West of the point where the River Shannon enters Lough Derg...
,
KillaloeKillaloe is a large village in east County Clare, Ireland, situated in the midwest of Ireland. The village is on the south end of Lough Derg, while the settlement spreads across the River Shannon, with the County Tipperary side known as Ballina...
&
BallinaBallina is a village that lies on the River Shannon in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is a scenic area on the eastern shore of Lough Derg.It is a 'twin-town' of Killaloe, in County Clare, on the west bank of the lake. The two towns are joined by the bridge in the picture.For a long period of time,...
,
DromineerDromineer is a small village in County Tipperary, Ireland, situated on the shores of Lough Derg on the River Shannon. Home to an 11th century towerhouse, idyllic scenery, a public harbour and other facilities, it is a popular place to visit, especially for those out boating on the lake...
,
TerryglassTerryglass is a village situated in County Tipperary in Ireland, in the area of the county known as North Tipperary. It is located on the R493 regional road on the North-eastern shore of Lough Derg near where the River Shannon enters the Lough. Terryglass won the Irish Tidy Towns Competition in...
and
MountshannonMountshannon is a village in east County Clare, Ireland. The village is on the western shore of Lough Derg, north of Killaloe.-History:The village was designed and built from scratch by Alexander Woods, a Limerick merchant, who intended it as a purely Protestant settlement from which the...
.
At its deepest, the lake is 36 metres deep and covers an
areaArea is a quantity expressing the two-dimensional size of a defined part of a surface, typically a region bounded by a closed curve. The term surface area refers to the total area of the exposed surface of a 3-dimensional solid, such as the sum of the areas of the exposed sides of a polyhedron...
of 118 km² (45.5 sq miles). The lake is a popular place for leisure
boatingBoating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether power boats, sail boats, or yachts , focused on the travel itself, as well as sports activities, such as fishing or waterskiing...
,
sailingSailing is the art of controlling a boat with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to change the direction and speed of a boat...
and
fishingFishing is the activity of catching fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
. At the point where Lough Derg empties into the Shannon, it slopes steeply downhill—a major reason for the location of the world's then-largest hydroelectric power plant at
ArdnacrushaArdnacrusha is an area located in County Clare approximately 5 miles from the Limerick border. The biggest feature of note in Ardnacrusha is the hydroelectric power station which was originally referred to as The Shannon Scheme. This is Ireland's largest river hydroelectric scheme and is operated...
in 1927.
In the nineteenth century, Lough Derg was an important artery from the port at
LimerickLimerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland,
[Information based on Central Statistics Office figures from 2006, which is the most recent census information available.] and the principal city in County Limerick...
to
DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
through the canals in the midlands of Ireland. Navigable over its full 40 km length, Lough Derg is today popular with cruisers and other pleasure traffic, as well as
sailingSailing is the art of controlling a boat with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to change the direction and speed of a boat...
and
fishingFishing is the activity of catching fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
. The
University of LimerickThe University of Limerick was established in 1972 as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick and became a university by statute in 1989 in accordance with the University of Limerick Act 1989...
have an activity centre by the lake, just outside Killaloe. It is used for
canoeA canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes usually are pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over .In its human-powered form, the canoe is propelled by the use of...
s,
kayakA kayak is a small human-powered boat. It typically has a covered deck, and a cockpit covered by a spraydeck also known as a skirt. The kayak was used by the native Ainu, Aleut and Eskimo hunters in sub-Arctic regions of northeastern Asia, North America and Greenland. It historically was, and...
s,
windsurfingWindsurfing is a surface water sport using a windsurf board usually two to four meters long and powered by the effect of the wind on a sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating universal joint and comprises a mast, wishbone boom and sail...
and
yachtA yacht is a high end recreational boat. It designates two rather different classes of watercraft, sailing and power boats. Yachts are different from working ships mainly by their leisure purpose. It was not until the rise of the steamboat and other types of powerboat that sailing vessels in...
s, among other purposes.
Towns/villages
- Ballina
Ballina is a village that lies on the River Shannon in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is a scenic area on the eastern shore of Lough Derg.It is a 'twin-town' of Killaloe, in County Clare, on the west bank of the lake. The two towns are joined by the bridge in the picture.For a long period of time,...
- Dromineer
Dromineer is a small village in County Tipperary, Ireland, situated on the shores of Lough Derg on the River Shannon. Home to an 11th century towerhouse, idyllic scenery, a public harbour and other facilities, it is a popular place to visit, especially for those out boating on the lake...
- Garrykennedy
- Kilgarvan
- Killaloe
Killaloe is a large village in east County Clare, Ireland, situated in the midwest of Ireland. The village is on the south end of Lough Derg, while the settlement spreads across the River Shannon, with the County Tipperary side known as Ballina...
- Mountshannon
Mountshannon is a village in east County Clare, Ireland. The village is on the western shore of Lough Derg, north of Killaloe.-History:The village was designed and built from scratch by Alexander Woods, a Limerick merchant, who intended it as a purely Protestant settlement from which the...
- Portumna
Portumna is a town in the South-East of County Galway, Ireland, on the border with County Tipperary. The town is located to the West of the point where the River Shannon enters Lough Derg...
- Scarriff
Scarriff or Scariff ) is a large village in east County Clare, Ireland, situated in the midwest of Ireland. The town is on the West end of Lough Derg and is best known for its harbour. The Scarriff Market House is easily recognisable, and it is therefore often used to represent the...
(location of regional Waterways IrelandWaterways Ireland is one of the six All-Ireland North/South Implementation Bodies established under the Belfast Agreement in 1999. It is responsible for the management, maintenance, development, and restoration of inland navigable waterways primarily for recreational purposes...
office)
- Terryglass
Terryglass is a village situated in County Tipperary in Ireland, in the area of the county known as North Tipperary. It is located on the R493 regional road on the North-eastern shore of Lough Derg near where the River Shannon enters the Lough. Terryglass won the Irish Tidy Towns Competition in...
- Whitegate
Whitegate is a small village on the R352 regional road in northeastern County Clare, Ireland. A tightly knit community shows through even though many of the old buildings are gone. What was once the church has been in disuse for many years and has now become a warehouse and lumberyard...
- Portroe
Portroe is a village in North County Tipperary, Ireland. It is located on the R494 regional road about from the eastern shore of Lough Derg.-See also:* List of towns and villages in Ireland...
See also
- List of loughs in Ireland
- Lough Derg (Donegal)
Lough Derg is a small lake in County Donegal, Ireland, about seven kilometres north of the border village of Pettigoe...
, a different Irish lake of the same name