Glenbeg Lough is a
freshwater
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does incl ...
lake in the southwest of Ireland. It is located on the
Beara Peninsula
Beara ( ga, Béarra) or the Beara Peninsula is a peninsula on the south-west coast of Ireland, bounded between the Kenmare "river" (actually a bay) to the north side and Bantry Bay to the south. It contains two mountain ranges running down it ...
in
County Cork
County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...
.
Geography
Glenbeg Lough measures about long and wide. It lies about southwest of
Kenmare
Kenmare () is a small town in the south of County Kerry, Ireland. The name Kenmare is the anglicised form of ''Ceann Mara'', meaning "head of the sea", referring to the head of Kenmare Bay.
Location
Kenmare is located at the head of Kenmare Ba ...
, near the village of
Ardgroom
Ardgroom () is a village on the Beara peninsula in County Cork, Ireland. Its name refers to two gravelly hills deposited by a glacier, Dromárd and Drombeg. It lies to the north north west of Glenbeg Lough, overlooking the Kenmare River estuary ...
.
[
]
Hydrology
Glenbeg Lough drains into the Ownagappul River, which in turn enters Kenmare Bay at Cappul. The lake is oligotrophic
An oligotroph is an organism that can live in an environment that offers very low levels of nutrients. They may be contrasted with copiotrophs, which prefer nutritionally rich environments. Oligotrophs are characterized by slow growth, low rates o ...
.[
]
Natural history
Fish species in Glenbeg Lough include brown trout
The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morp ...
, salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus '' Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Onco ...
and the critically endangered European eel
The European eel (''Anguilla anguilla'') is a species of eel, a snake-like, catadromous fish. They are normally around and rarely reach more than , but can reach a length of up to in exceptional cases.
Eels have been important sources of ...
.[ The lake is part of the Glanmore Bog ]Special Area of Conservation
A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and a ...
.[
]
See also
*List of loughs in Ireland
This is an alphabetical list of loughs (lakes) on the island of Ireland. It also shows a table of the largest loughs. The word ''lough'' is pronounced like ''loch'' () and comes from the Irish ''loch'', meaning ''lake''.
According to the Environ ...
References
{{Reflist, refs =
[{{Google maps , url = https://www.google.com/maps/place/Glenbeg+Lough,+Co.+Cork,+Ireland/@51.7154702,-9.8804428,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x48457c73ab0aa2e9:0x7e05c3c9cce4351a?hl=en , title = Glenbeg Lough , access-date = 4 January 2016]
[{{cite report , last1 = Free , first1 = Gary , last2 = Little , first2 = Ruth , last3 = Tierney , first3 = Deirdre , last4 = Donnelly , first4 = Karol , last5 = Caroni , first5 = Rossana , name-list-style = amp , url = https://www.epa.ie/publications/research/water/Final-Report-(2000-FS1-M1).pdf#page=18 , title = A Reference Based Typology and Ecological Assessment System for Irish Lakes , date = 2006 , pages = 12 , publisher = ]Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland)
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for protecting and improving the environment as a valuable asset for the people of Ireland. It operates independently under the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.
Hi ...
, access-date = 11 October 2022
[{{cite web , url = http://wfdfish.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Muckanagh_report_2012.pdf , title = Water Framework Directive Fish Stock Survey of Glenbeg Lough , publisher = Inland Fisheries Ireland , date = September 2014 , access-date = 4 January 2016]
[{{cite web , url = http://www.npws.ie/sites/default/files/protected-sites/synopsis/SY001879.pdf , title = Glanmore Bog SAC , publisher = ]National Parks and Wildlife Service (Ireland)
The National Parks and Wildlife Service () manages the Irish State's nature conservation responsibilities. As well as managing the national parks, the activities of the NPWS include the designation and protection of Natural Heritage Areas, Special ...
, access-date = 4 January 2016
Glenbeg