Lough Swilly: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy datesHiberno-English|date=October 20132023}}

[[File:Derry from the International Space Station 2013-03-17.jpg|thumb|SeenView from the International Space Station: [[Derry]] and the [[Ulster]] coastline, with Lough Swilly to the west and [[Lough Foyle]] and [[Inishowen]] to the north of the city]]

'''Lough Swilly''' ({{Irish place name|Loch Súilí|Lakelake of Shadows" or the "Lake of Eyeseyes}}){{sfn|Pierce|2011|loc=Irish Times}} in Ireland is a glacial [[fjord]] or sea inlet lying between the western side of the [[Inishowen|Inishowen Peninsula]] and the [[Fanad]] Peninsula, in [[County Donegal]]. Along with [[Carlingford Lough]] and [[Killary Harbour]] it is one of three glacial fjords in Ireland.{{sfn|DundurnBeattie|Lynch|2000|p=4}}<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.discoverireland.ie/Arts-Culture-Heritage/killary-harbour/91305 | title = Killary Harbour | publisher = Discover Ireland | access-date = 7 November 2018 | archive-date = 8 November 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181108030023/https://www.discoverireland.ie/Arts-Culture-Heritage/killary-harbour/91305 | url-status = live }}</ref>

In the south of the lough a number of islands (Burt, [[Inch Island|Inch]], Coney, Big Isle) were [[polder]]ed and the land reclaimed during the 19th century for agriculture and the [[Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway]] constructed embankments on the line from [[Derry]] to Letterkenny. These reclaimed lands are now [[wetlandswetland]]s associated with [[wildlife conservation]] and [[birdwatching]], and support over 4,000 [[whooper swan]]s and thousands of [[greater white-fronted goose|Greenland white front]], [[barnacle goose|barnacle]], [[Greylag goose|greylag]] and [[brent goose|brent]] geese.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}

The lough, and the [[Grianán Ailigh]] hill fort (early fortification and palace dating from 2000–50002000 to 5000&nbsp;BC) at its southeastern bend, were recorded on [[Ptolemy]]'s [[Geography (Ptolemy)|map of the world]]. It has a number of early [[Stone Age]] monuments and [[Iron Age]] fortifications along its shores, as well as a number of [[shell midden]]s dated to approximately 7000&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Kimball|1998|p=163}}

Swilly was the departure point for the '[[Flight of the Earls]]' in 1607. This event, which followed a failed uprising in September 1607, saw [[Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone]], and [[Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell]] (the last [[Gael]]ic chieftains in Ireland at that time), set sail from [[Rathmullan]] with ninety of their followers.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.donegal.ie/venue-and-organization/flight-earls-heritage-centre |publisher = Donegal.ie |title = Flight Ofof Thethe Earls Centre |access-date = 7 November 2018 |archive-date = 8 November 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181108030027/https://www.donegal.ie/venue-and-organization/flight-earls-heritage-centre |url-status = live }}</ref>{{sfn|DundurnBeattie|Lynch|2000|p=78}}

During a gale on 4 December 1811, the [[Royal Navy]] 36-gun {{sclass|Apollo|frigate}} {{HMS|Saldanha|1809|6}} was shipwrecked in Lough Swilly. There were no survivors out of the estimated 253 aboard, with approximately 200 bodies washed up on shore.{{sfn|StephenMaguire|2018}}

Due to its natural shelter and its depth, the lough was an important naval port. In October 1798, immediately prior to the outbreak of the [[Napoleonic wars]], a French fleet carrying [[Wolfe Tone]] of the [[United Irishmen]], plus troops to assist in [[Irish Rebellion of 1798|1798 rebellion]], was intercepted and defeated in a [[Battle of Tory Island|naval battle at the entrance to Lough Swilly]]. Subsequently, Tone was captured and taken ashore at Buncrana on the east side of the Swilly.{{sfn|DundurnBeattie|Lynch|2000|p=16}}

A subsequent reassessment of the threat of invasion led to the building of a series of fortifications guarding the different approaches and landing points within the lough which were completed between 1800 and 1820.{{sfn|Kerrigan|1995|p=236-242}} [[Martello tower]]s were built around 1804 to defend the approaches to Derry. The six on the lough cost €1,800 each, were armed with smoothbore cannon, firing round shot and were completed in six months.{{sfn|Stevenson|1995|p=11-28}} Immediately prior to the [[First World War I]] the War Office improved the Napoleonic forts and their armaments as well as adding another fort at the entrance to the lough at Lenan Head with {{convert|9|in|cm|adj=on|0}} guns (12-mile range) – the largest in Ireland at the time. The remains of these fortifications are still at [[Lenan Head Fort]], [[Fort Dunree]] (now a military and wildlife museum), [[Ned's Point Fort|Ned's Point]], Buncrana, [[Inch Fort]] and on the west coast at Rathmullan, [[Knockalla Fort|Knockalla]] and [[Macamish Fort|Macamish Point]].{{sfn|Kerrigan|1995|p=266-267}}

During the First World War, the lough was used by the Royal Navy as an anchorage for elements of the [[Grand Fleet]], an amalgamation of the pre-war Home and Atlantic Fleets, under [[Admiral (Royal Navy)|Admiral]] [[John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe|Sir John R. Jellicoe]] and a gathering/staging point for Atlantic convoys.{{sfn|Friel|2015}}{{sfn|DundurnBeattie|Lynch|2000|p=18}} During this period a boom was placed across the lough between Macamish Point and Ned's Point, supported by a number of [[Naval trawler|trawlers]], to prevent [[U-boat]] attacks. After the [[Irish War of Independence]] the lough was also one of the [[Treaty ports (Ireland)|Treaty Ports]] specified in the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] until its final handing over at Fort Dunree in 1938.{{sfn|DundurnBeattie|Lynch|2000|p=18}}

According to exhibits at Fort Dunree, during [[World War II]] Irish troops operated the guns there with explicit instructions to fire at any ship that might threaten Irish neutrality by entering the natural harbour. ThereOn wasone reportedlyoccasion onlyin onethis serious incidentperiod, when a Royal Navy ship entered the lough and – while it did not initially respond to signals that it should turn back. However,– left the shiparea turnedwithout aroundany beforeaction Irishbeing forces fired upon ittaken.{{citation needed|date= November 2018}}

* {{cite webbook|title =TheInishowen: RolePaintings ofand LoughStories Swillyfrom inthe WW1|Land urlof Eoghan|first1 = https://fanadlighthouse.com/the-role-of-lough-swilly-in-ww1/Seán |last1 first= Beattie |first2 = DeirdreMartin |lastlast2 = FrielLynch| year = 2000 | publisher = Fanad LighthouseDundurn | yearisbn = 20159781900935173 }}

* {{cite book|title=The Lough Swilly Archaeological Survey: Investigations Intointo the Neolithic Transition in Eastern Donegal, Ireland, Volume 1 |first = Michael J. | last = Kimball | publisher = University of Wisconsin, Madison | year = 1998 }}

* {{cite web|title = Sweeping swiftly over Swilly | url = https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/sweeping-swiftly-over-swilly-1.603180 | last = Pierce | first = Seán | publisherwork = The Irish Times | website = irishtimes.com | year = 2011 }}

* {{cite web|title = Map Sheds New Light on Hundreds of Inishowen Shipwrecks | url = http://www.donegaldaily.com/2018/05/09/map-sheds-new-light-on-hundreds-of-inishowen-shipwrecks/ | authorfirst = Stephen | last = Maguire | publisher = Donegal Daily | year = 2018 }}