Castlefore Lough () is a mesotrophic

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 include ...

lake in County Leitrim, Ireland. Known for good

coarse fishing In Britain and Ireland, coarse fishing (, ) refers to angling for rough fish, which are fish species traditionally considered undesirable as a food or game fish. Freshwater game fish are all salmonids — most particularly salmon, trout and cha ...

, the lake has limited bank fishing. The ecology of Castlefore Lough, and other county waterways, is threatened by curly waterweed, zebra mussel, and

freshwater clam Freshwater bivalves are one kind of freshwater mollusc, along with freshwater snails. They are bivalves that live in fresh water as opposed to salt water, which is the main habitat type for bivalves. The majority of species of bivalve molluscs l ...

invasive species.

Etymology

The lake takes its name from the district of "Castlefore" ( ga, Baile Choille Fóir), meaning the "".

Geography

Castlefore Lough lies due east of

Keshcarrigan Keshcarrigan () is a village in County Leitrim, Ireland. It is situated on the Shannon-Erne Waterway and R209 road and under Sheebeg (Sí Beag), an ancient pagan burial site which overlooks Lough Scur to the north and Keshcarrigan Lough to t ...

village, and due west of Fenagh in south County Leitrim. The lake has a tilted cone shape, a surface-area of and depths to .

Ecology

Fish present in Castlefore Lough include "

roach Roach may refer to: Animals * Cockroach, various insect species of the order Blattodea * Common roach (''Rutilus rutilus''), a fresh and brackish water fish of the family Cyprinidae ** ''Rutilus'' or roaches, a genus of fishes * California roach ...

- bream hybrids", roach,

perch Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Percif ...

, bream,

tench The tench or doctor fish (''Tinca tinca'') is a fresh- and brackish-water fish of the order Cypriniformes found throughout Eurasia from Western Europe including the British Isles east into Asia as far as the Ob and Yenisei Rivers. It is also ...

, and

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

. The pike population is the "native Irish strain" ( ga, liús meaning 'Irish

') not the other European

strain ( ga, gailliasc meaning 'strange or foreign fish'). The lake has stocks of pike up to .

Human settlement

Crannog at the eastern end of Castlefore Lough - geograph

From Prehistoric Ireland times, lake dwellers settled on a crannog at the eastern end of Castlefore Lough, with possibly two crannogs existing here. The

human settlement In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community in which people live. The complexity of a settlement can range from a minuscule number of dwellings grouped together to the largest of ci ...

s near Castlefore lough are

and Fenagh villages, and the townlands of Gubroe to the northwest, Killmacsherwell to the north, Annaghaderg to the south, and Leamanish to the southeast.

Poem

An old published poem titled "An Exile's Dream", praises the scenery around Castlefore Lough.

"I sat down to rest and fell into a slumber,
I thought I was back near my own native place,
And roaming along by the bright crystal waters.
The lovely blue waters of Castlefore Lake.
I stood for a while to admire its beauty
And turned my eyes to that sweet little space.
The Island far out where wild birds go a-nesting
On the lovely blue waters of Castlefore Lake.
Then my gaze wandered up in another direction.
To some beautiful swans, oh, what noise they did make.
They splashed and they fluttered, but seemed quite contented
On the lovely blue waters of Castlefore Lake. A boat being near me, I took the advantage
To go for a sail to some different place,
I sailed straight across and enjoyed the fresh breezes
On the lovely blue waters of Castlefore Lake. On the opposite side of the lake I just landed.
When I woke from my slumber in this far foreign place
I felt happy and longed for to dream once again, on
The lovely blue waters of Castlefore Lake''".

Etymology

Geography

Ecology

Human settlement

Poem

See also

References

Citations

References

External links