Caragh Lake (), also Lough Caragh, is a lake in the

Reeks District Tourism in the Republic of Ireland is one of the biggest contributors to the economy of Ireland, with 9.0 million people visiting the country in 2017, about 1.8 times Ireland's population. Each year, about €5.2bn in revenue is made fro ...

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

, Ireland. The lake was formed by the damming of the Caragh River. The lake is between the town of

Killorglin Killorglin () is a town in County Kerry, Ireland. As of the 2022 census, the town's population was 2,163. Killorglin is on the Ring of Kerry tourist route, and annual events include the August Puck Fair festival, which starts with the crownin ...

and the village of

Glenbeigh Glenbeigh or Glanbehy () is a village and civil parish on the Iveragh peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. The parish includes Rossbeigh beach, Coomasahran Lake and a number of important rock art sites. Owing to its natural heritage, history a ...

. Caragh Lake railway station was on the

Great Southern and Western Railway The Great Southern and Western Railway (GS&WR) was an Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland from 1844 until 1924. The grew by building lines and making a series of takeovers, until in the late 19th and early 20th centuries it was the larges ...

line which ran from

Farranfore Farranfore () is a village in County Kerry, Ireland. It lies on the N22 road approximately midway between Tralee (10 miles or 17 km) and Killarney (9 miles or 15 km) and on the railway line connecting the two towns. Farranf ...

Valentia Harbour Valentia Island () is one of Ireland's most westerly points. It lies in Dingle Bay off the Iveragh Peninsula in the southwest of County Kerry. It is linked to the mainland by the Maurice O'Neill Memorial Bridge at Portmagee. A car ferry also ...

Ecology

The lake is included within a large

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 ap ...

: Killarney National Park, Macgillycuddy's Reeks and Caragh River Catchment SAC. Most of Caragh Lake falls under this designation as an SAC. The rare

Kerry slug The Kerry slug or Kerry spotted slug (''Geomalacus maculosus'') is a species of terrestrial, pulmonate, gastropod mollusc. It is a medium-to-large sized, air-breathing land slug in the Family (biology), family of roundback slugs, Arionidae. Ad ...

was first discovered near this lake in 1842. The lake is glacial in origin.

Luxury properties

The north-eastern corner of the lake, particularly surrounding the townland of ''Glannagilliagh'', is home to a number of holiday properties, built from the 1970s onwards, which have views of the lake and

MacGillycuddy's Reeks MacGillycuddy's Reeks () is a sandstone and siltstone mountain range in the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. Stretching , from the Gap of Dunloe in the east, to Glencar, County Kerry, Glencar in the west, the Reeks is Ireland's high ...

mountains. In a 2015 article in ''

The Irish Examiner The ''Irish Examiner'', formerly ''The Cork Examiner'' and then ''The Examiner'', is an Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork, though it is available throughout the country ...

'', the view across the lake from Glannagilliagh was described as being possibly "the most beautiful westerly view in Kerry". Since the discovery of the rare

and designation of the area as a Special Area of Conservation,

planning permission Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. House building permits, for example, are subject to buil ...

for the construction of new homes has become difficult. Many of the luxury properties pre-date this ruling however, and extend to the lakeshore itself, including private

slipway A slipway, also known as boat ramp or launch or boat deployer, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats, and for launching and retrieving smal ...

s for the launching of boats. In 2016,

real estate agent Real estate agents and real estate brokers are people who represent sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and age ...

Savills Savills plc is a British real estate services company based in London. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History The business was established by Alfred Savill (1829–1905) in 1855 in London ...

noted that there was a premium on lakeside houses in the area, and that getting planning permission for a new build at the same scale as some of those existing would "be out of the question". Although frequently only purchased with the intention of being used as holiday homes, properties in the area often sell for millions of euro.

Gallery

File:View over Caragh Lake.jpg, View from Caragh Lake Mountain File:Sailing on Caragh Lake.jpg, Sailing on Caragh Lake File:Views of County Kerry, Ireland 08.jpg, The lake in 1981, looking towards

Carrauntoohil Carrauntoohil, Carrauntoohill or Carrantuohill ( ; , meaning "Tuathal's sickle") is the Lists of mountains in Ireland, highest mountain in Ireland at . It is on the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, close to the centre of Ireland's highest mo ...

References

Lakes of County Kerry {{Kerry-geo-stub

Ecology

Luxury properties

Gallery

See also

References