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Lough Swilly (Loch Súilí in Irish
Irish language

Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people....
) in Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area 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 islet....
 is a fjord
Fjord

Geologically, a fjord or fiord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides, created in a valley carved by Glacier....
-like body of water lying between the western side of the Inishowen Peninsula
Inishowen

Inishowen is a peninsula in County Donegal, and also the largest peninsula in Ireland. It pre-dates the formation of the county in which it is located by centuries....
 in County Donegal
County Donegal

County Donegal is a county located in the west of the Province of Ulster, in the northwest of Ireland. It is one of three counties in the Province of Ulster that do not form part of Northern Ireland....
 and the Fanad Peninsula with the rest of northern Donegal. It is also known as the lake of shadows or eyes.

At the northern extremities of the lough are Fanad
Fanad

Fanad is a peninsula that lies between Lough Swilly and Mulroy Bay on the north coast of County Donegal in Ireland. There is a signposted scenic tour around the peninsula....
 Head with the famous lighthouse and Dunaff Head. Towns situated on the Lough include Buncrana
Buncrana

Buncrana is a town in County Donegal, the northwest of Republic of Ireland, located on the Inishowen peninsula, along Lough Swilly, 10 kilometres from Derry and 43 kilometres from Letterkenny....
 on Inishowen and Rathmullan
Rathmullan

Rathmullan is a small seaside village in County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. It is situated on the western shore of Lough Swilly, 11 km north-east of Ramelton and 12 km east of Milford, County Donegal....
 on the western side.






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Lough Swilly (Loch Súilí in Irish
Irish language

Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people....
) in Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area 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 islet....
 is a fjord
Fjord

Geologically, a fjord or fiord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides, created in a valley carved by Glacier....
-like body of water lying between the western side of the Inishowen Peninsula
Inishowen

Inishowen is a peninsula in County Donegal, and also the largest peninsula in Ireland. It pre-dates the formation of the county in which it is located by centuries....
 in County Donegal
County Donegal

County Donegal is a county located in the west of the Province of Ulster, in the northwest of Ireland. It is one of three counties in the Province of Ulster that do not form part of Northern Ireland....
 and the Fanad Peninsula with the rest of northern Donegal. It is also known as the lake of shadows or eyes.

At the northern extremities of the lough are Fanad
Fanad

Fanad is a peninsula that lies between Lough Swilly and Mulroy Bay on the north coast of County Donegal in Ireland. There is a signposted scenic tour around the peninsula....
 Head with the famous lighthouse and Dunaff Head. Towns situated on the Lough include Buncrana
Buncrana

Buncrana is a town in County Donegal, the northwest of Republic of Ireland, located on the Inishowen peninsula, along Lough Swilly, 10 kilometres from Derry and 43 kilometres from Letterkenny....
 on Inishowen and Rathmullan
Rathmullan

Rathmullan is a small seaside village in County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. It is situated on the western shore of Lough Swilly, 11 km north-east of Ramelton and 12 km east of Milford, County Donegal....
 on the western side. At the southern end of the Lough lies Letterkenny
Letterkenny

Letterkenny is the largest town in County Donegal, part of the Province of Ulster in Ireland. It is located on the River Swilly. Despite its size, Letterkenny is not the County Town of County Donegal....
.

Steeped in history the Lough and An Greinán Fort (early fortification and palace dating from 2000- 5000 BC) at its southeastern bend was recorded on Ptolomy's map of the world. It has numerous early stone age monuments and Iron Age fortifications along its shores as well as a number of shell midden finds dated to approx. 7000 BC. It is most famous for its part in hosting what is known as Flight of the Earls
Flight of the Earls

The Flight of the Earls refers to the departure from Ireland on 14 September 1607 of Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone and Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell....
. After a failed general uprising, in September 1607, Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone and Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell
Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell

Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell was the last T?r Conaill. An apparent original of the Letters Patent of the Earldom are in the possession of Count O'Donell von Tyrconnell in Austria, although that family did not inherit the title, nor the related territorial Lordship of Tyrconnell, the remainders of which were destined elsewhere....
 the last Gaelic chieftains and upholders of Brehon law in Ireland at that time, set sail from Rathmullan
Rathmullan

Rathmullan is a small seaside village in County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. It is situated on the western shore of Lough Swilly, 11 km north-east of Ramelton and 12 km east of Milford, County Donegal....
 with ninety of their followers. During the late 1700s a French fleet carrying Wolfe Tone of The United Irishmen fame and troops to assist in 1798 rebellion
Irish Rebellion of 1798

The Irish Rebellion of 1798 , or 1798 rebellion as it is known locally, was an uprising in 1798, lasting several months, against United Kingdom and its subject Kingdom of Ireland....
 was intercepted and defeated in a naval battle at the entrance to Lough Swilly in October 1798. Subsequently Tone was captured and taken ashore at Buncrana on the east side of the Swilly.

Due to its natural shelter and impressive depth the Lough was always an important naval port from earliest times. Following the capture of Tone and the real threat of a French invasion under Napoleon, a series of fortifications were built from 1800-1820 guarding the different approaches and landing points within the Lough. During World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
, the lough was used by the Royal Navy
Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
 as an anchorage for the North Atlantic Fleet under Admiral Jellico and a gathering/staging point for North Atlantic convoys. During this period a boom was placed across the Lough supported by a number of trawlers to prevent U-Boat attacks. Immediately prior to the great war the British also improved the Napoleonic forts and their armaments as well as adding an additional fort at the entrance to the lough at Lenan Head with 9 inch guns ( 12 mile range) - the largest in Ireland at the time. The remains of these fortifications can still be inspected at Lenan Head, Dunree (now a military and wildlife museum), neds point- Buncrana, Inch Island and on the west coast at Rathmullan, Knockalla and Macamish point. After the Black and Tan war the Lough was also one of the Treaty Ports
Treaty Ports (Ireland)

At the end of the Irish War of Independence three deep water Treaty Ports at Lough Swilly, Berehaven, and Queenstown were retained by the United Kingdom as UK sovereign base under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 6 1921....
 specified in the Anglo-Irish Treaty
Anglo-Irish Treaty

The Anglo-Irish Treaty , officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and representatives of the de facto Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of Independence....
 until its final handing over at Fort Dunree in 1938.

The Lough is also famous for its wildlife watching (dolpins, porpoise, sea birds, migratory geese and swans) and diving on the numerous ship wrecks, including the S.S. Laurentic sunk by a German mine (possible torpedo) which went down with 3211 ingots of gold of which 3191 were recovered.

In the south of the Lough a number of Islands (Burt, Inch, Coney, Big Isle) were pouldered and the land reclaimed during the 1800s for agriculture and the lough swilly to Derry city Railway embankments. These reclaimed lands are now regarded as one of Ireland's premier wetlands for wildlife conservation and bird watching, supporting over 4 thousand whooper swans and thousands of Greenland white front, barnacle, greylagg and brent geese.

The lough now hosts a 250 berth Marina and Sailing Club at Fahan as well as a RNLI all weather life boat station at Buncrana.

See also

  • List of Irish loughs
    List of Irish loughs

    This article is a list of loughs on the island of Ireland. The word lough comes from the Old Irish loch, meaning lake.The list below contains only those loughs that are of geographic, geological or historical importance....
  • Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway
    Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway

    The Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company is an Ireland public transport and freight firm, incorporated in June 1853. Despite the company's name, it does not operate any railway services, its last railway line having closed in July 1953....