Lough Derg (Shannon)
| Lough Derg | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 52°59′N 8°19′W / 52.983°N 8.317°W |
| Primary inflows | River Shannon |
| Primary outflows | River Shannon |
| Basin countries | Ireland |
| Max. length | 38.6 |
| Max. width | 12.9 |
| Surface area | 130 |
| Average depth | 7.6 m |
| Max. depth | 36 m |
| Water volume | 0.887 km³ |
| Residence time | 0.15 years |
| Shore length1 | 179,000 m |
| Surface elevation | 33.5 m |
| Settlements | Garrykennedy, Portumna, Killaloe & Ballina, Dromineer, Terryglass |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Lough Derg (from Irish Loch Deirgeirt 'loch of the red eye') is the second-largest lake (or lough) in Ireland and is the third-largest in the whole island (after Lough Neagh and Lough Corrib). It is a long, relatively narrow lake, with shores in counties Clare (south-west), Galway (north-west), and North Tipperary (to the east). The lake is the last of the three largest on the River Shannon, with the other two, Lough Ree and Lough Allen lying further north. Some towns and villages on Lough Derg include Portumna, Killaloe & Ballina, Dromineer, Terryglass, Mountshannon and Garrykennedy.
At its deepest, the lake is 36 metres[1] deep and covers an area of 130 km² (50.2 sq miles). The lake is a popular place for leisure boating, sailing and fishing. Close downstream of where Lough Derg empties into the Shannon are the falls of Doonass, the largest fall on the otherwise gently sloping river, with the nearby location of the world's then-largest hydroelectric power plant at Ardnacrusha in 1927.
In the nineteenth century, Lough Derg was an important artery from the port at Limerick to Dublin 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 sailing and fishing. The University of Limerick have an activity centre by the lake, just north of Killaloe, where there are canoes, kayaks, windsurfing, sailing dingies, and other recreations.
A breeding pair of White-tailed Eagles nested on an island in Lough Derg in 2012. This marked a great success for the Irish reintroduction programme started in the summer of 2007.[2][3][4]
Towns/villages
- Ballina
- Dromineer
- Garrykennedy
- Kilgarvan
- Killaloe
- Mountshannon
- Portumna
- Scarriff (location of regional Waterways Ireland office[5])
- Terryglass
- Whitegate
- Portroe
See also
- List of loughs in Ireland
- Lough Derg (Donegal), a different Irish lake of the same name
References
- ^ International Lake Environment Committee Foundation
- ^ "Sea eagles return to Irish nest". The Irish Times. 2012-04-30. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
- ^ RTÉ: Rare eagle reintroduced to Ireland
- ^ White-tailed Eagle
- ^ Waterways Ireland ePortal
External links
