Lough Gur () is a lake in

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

between the towns of Herbertstown and

Bruff Bruff () is a town in east County Limerick, in the midwest of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, located on the old Limerick–Cork (city), Cork road (R512 road (Ireland), R512). The town lies on the River Maigue, Morning Star river, with two bridg ...

. The lake forms a

horseshoe A horseshoe is a product designed to protect a horse hoof from wear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface (ground side) of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall that is anatomically akin to the human toenail, altho ...

shape at the base of Knockadoon Hill and some rugged elevated countryside. It is one of Ireland's most important

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

sites. Humans have lived near Lough Gur since about 3000 BC and there are numerous

megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging geographically f ...

ic remains there. Grange stone circle (the largest stone circle in Ireland) and a

dolmen A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber Megalith#Tombs, megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000 ...

are located near the lake. The remains of at least three

crannog A crannog (; ; ) is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually constructed in lakes, bogs and estuary, estuarine waters of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Unlike the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, which were built ...

s are present, and remains of

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

houses have been unearthed (the house outlines are known as "The Spectacles"). A number of ring forts are found in the area, with one

hill fort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

overlooking the lake. Some are Irish national monuments. It is here that the 14th-century lord of Munster and poet Gearóid Iarla, votary of the Goddess Áine, is said to sleep in a cave and emerge at the time of Ireland's need to gallop around the lake on his great silver-shod white horse. A visitors' centre is open beside Lough Gur, along with a car park and picnic area. A gradual shoreline is present at the visitor area, with a shallow section of lake reaching up to the maintained lawn. As a result, the area is often used for

water sports Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms ...

, though motorised craft are banned on the lake. There is a

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

, or

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, to command and defend strategic points ...

(closed to visitors) near the entrance to the carpark. Named Bourchier's Castle after Sir George Bourchier, the son of the second Earl of Bath, it lies at the neck of the

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

around which the lake washes. There is some other architecture dating from more recent times, with the ruins of an

early Christian Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the historical era of the Christian religion up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Christianity spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and be ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

by the road leading down to the lake. At the far end of the lake are the ruins of a Norman castle, Black Castle, which is reached by a hillside walk along the east side of the lake. This is one of the keeps used during the

Desmond Rebellions The Desmond Rebellions occurred in 1569–1573 and 1579–1583 in the Irish province of Munster. They were rebellions by the Earl of Desmond, the head of the FitzGerald dynasty in Munster, and his followers, the Geraldines and their allies, ...

and is probably the place where the

Earl of Desmond Earl of Desmond ( meaning Earl of South Munster) is a title of nobility created by the English monarch in the peerage of Ireland. The title has been created four times. It was first awarded in 1329 to Maurice FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond, Maur ...

secured his authority in 1573 after casting off his English apparel and donning Irish garments on his return to

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Lough Gur is a famous location for finding Irish Elk skeletons. The National Museum of Ireland – Natural History has specimens from Lough Gur as does Leeds Museums and Galleries in the UK.Steadman, M., 2019 "A History of the Scientific Collections of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society's Museum in the Nineteenth Century: Acquiring, Interpreting & Presenting the Natural World in the English Industrial City" University of Leeds, UK, unpublished PhD thesis https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/25449/1/Steadman%20Thesis%2014_06_2019.pdf Lough gur

References

External links

Lough Gur
- official visitor centre site at Shannon Heritage
Lough Gur Neolithic Settlement and Stone Age Centre

Lough Gur Development site

Google Earth Community
KMZ file indicating the location of several important Lough Gur sites. {{authority control Archaeological sites in County Limerick Gur National monuments in County Limerick Museums in County Limerick Archaeological museums in the Republic of Ireland

See also

References

External links