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{{Short description|Sea inlet in County Donegal, Ireland}}
{{Use
{{Use dmy dates|date=
{{Infobox body of water
| name = Lough Swilly
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==Name==
{{see also|River Swilly#Name}}
Both Lough Swilly ({{lang-ga|Loch Súilí}}) and the adjoining [[River Swilly]] ({{lang|ga|An tSúileach}}){{sfn|Mills|2011|p=446}} have the same derivation,<ref>{{Cite tweet |author= Northern Ireland Place-Name Project |user=placenamesni |number=1423669193291993095 |title=Lough Swilly takes its name from the Swilly River in Donegal. It has its origins in the Irish name An tSúileach 'the one with eyes' }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.logainm.ie/111276.aspx | publisher = Placenames Database of Ireland | title = Loch Súilí / Lough Swilly (see archival records) | accessdate = 22 December 2023 }}</ref>{{sfn|Joyce|1900|p=440}} and are sometimes associated with a legendary multi-eyed [[sea monster]], ''Suileach'', that was reputedly killed by [[Columba|Saint Colmcille]] (521–597).{{sfn|MacKillop|2004}}{{sfn|Donegal County Council}} In ''The Origin and History of Irish Names of Places'' (1900), the historian [[Patrick Weston Joyce]] writes that ''súil'' may refer to whirlpools or to eyes and that ''suileach'' means "abounding in eyes or whirlpools".{{sfn|Joyce|1900|p=440}}
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Located on the Fanad Peninsula, in County Donegal, the northern extremities of the lough are marked by [[Fanad|Fanad Head]] with its lighthouse and Dunaff Head. Towns situated on the [[lough]] include [[Buncrana]] on Inishowen and [[Rathmullan]] on the western side. At the southern end of the lough lies [[Letterkenny]].
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 [[
The lough is known for its wildlife-watching (dolphins, porpoise, seabirds, migratory geese and swans) and diving on a number of ship wrecks,{{sfn|Pierce|2011|loc=Irish Times}} including {{SS|Laurentic|1908|6}} sunk by a German [[Naval mine|mine]] (possible [[torpedo]]), which went down with 3,211 ingots of gold of which 3,191 were recovered.{{sfn|Scoltock|2016|loc=synopsis}}
==History==
The lough, and the [[Grianán Ailigh]] hill fort (early fortification and palace dating from
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
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|Maguire|2018}}
[[File:Martello Tower - geograph.org.uk - 1353269.jpg|thumb|A Martello tower that sits on the banks of Lough Swilly.]]
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|Beattie|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
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|Beattie|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|Beattie|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. On one occasion in this period, a Royal Navy ship entered the lough and
==References==
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* {{cite book | chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/originhistoryofi02joyc/page/440/mode/2up?q=suileach | chapter = Size ; Shape | title = The origin and history of Irish names of places | date = 1900 | first = Patrick Weston | last = Joyce | authorlink = Patrick Weston Joyce | page = 440 | quote = In some parts of the country it [súil] is applied to a whirlpool in a river ; and in this sense it has given name to the river Swilly in Donegal, which is called in the Annals, suileach, i. e. abounding in eyes or whirlpools. The river gave name to Lough Swilly}}
* {{cite book|title=Castles and fortifications in Ireland, 1485–1945 | isbn=1898256128 |first=Paul M. |last=Kerrigan |year=1995 |publisher=Collins Press}}
* {{cite book|title=The Lough Swilly Archaeological Survey: Investigations
* {{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 |
* {{cite book | title = A Dictionary of British Place-Names | first = David |last = Mills | date = 2011
* {{cite book | chapter-url = https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100541293?d=%2F10.1093%2Foi%2Fauthority.20110803100541293&p=emailA0n9r0%2FOfKlTk | chapter = Suileach | title = A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology | first = James | last = MacKillop |publisher = Oxford University Press | date = 2004 | isbn = 9780198609674 | quote = Suileach [..] Multi-eyed, eponymous sea-monster of Lough Swilly (Co. Donegal) thought to have been dispatched by St Colum Cille (521–95) }}
* {{cite book|title=We Own Laurentic | isbn=9781523742080 |first=Jack |last=Scoltock |year=2016 |publisher=CreateSpace | quote = ''[Laurentic] was mined at the mouth of Lough Swilly, Ireland in 1917. It sank in forty metres of water with the loss of 354 men. From 1917 to 1921 royal navy divers salvaged over 3,000 gold bars'' }}
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