Derryclare 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. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

lake at the entrance of the Inagh Valley, in

Connemara Connemara ( ; ) is a region on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speaking Gaeltacht, ...

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

, in the west of Ireland.

Geography

Derryclare Lough is located about east of

Clifden Clifden () is a coastal town in County Galway, Ireland, in the region of Connemara, located on the Owenglin River where it flows into Clifden Bay. As the largest town in the region, it is often referred to as "the Capital of Connemara". Frequen ...

on the

N59 road N59 may refer to: * N59 road (Ireland) * N59 highway (Philippines) * , a submarine of the Royal Navy * Nebraska Highway 59, in the United States * Rosaschi Air Park, in Lyon County, Nevada, United States {{Road disambiguation ...

. The

Twelve Bens The Twelve Bens or Twelve Pins, also called the Benna Beola (), is a mountain range of mostly sharp-peaked quartzite summits and ridges in the Connemara National Park in County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The widest definition of the rang ...

mountain range lies to the north of the lake, with the Ben of

Derryclare Derryclare or Derryclare Mountain () is a mountain at the southern edge of Twelve Bens range in Connemara National Park in County Galway, Ireland. At , it is the 119th–highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin list, and the 145th–highest peak o ...

overlooking the lake itself. Derryclare Lough is fed from rivers from Lough Inagh, which itself is fed from several mountain streams in the area, but most importantly from the ''Gleninagh River'' that starts high up in the ''Gleninagh Valley'' on the slopes of

Benbaun Benbaun () is a mountain in County Galway, Ireland. With a height of , it is the 72nd highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin scale, and the 88th highest peak on the Vandeleur-Lynam scale.Mountainviews, (September 2013), "A Guide to Ireland's M ...

and

Bencollaghduff Bencollaghduff () at , is the 93rd–highest peak in Ireland on the Lists of mountains in Ireland#Arderins, Arderin scale, and the 115th–highest peak on the Lists of mountains in Ireland#Vandeleur-Lynams, Vandeleur-Lynam scale.Mountainviews, ...

, and the ''Tooreennacoona River''. Derryclare Lough flows into Ballynahinch Lake, where it eventually joins the Owenmore River, and flows into Bertraghboy Bay.

Fishing

Derryclare Lough is noted for its lake and river fishing with spring salmon,

grilse Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family Salmonidae, native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (''Salmo'') and North Pa ...

and

sea trout Sea trout is the common name usually applied to anadromous (sea-run) forms of brown trout (''Salmo trutta''), and is often referred to as ''Salmo trutta'' morpha ''trutta''. Other names for anadromous brown trout are bull trout, sewin (Wales ...

, and the fishing is done from "Butts" (e.g. long piers from the shore), and particularly the ''Derryclare Butts'', ''Glendollagh Butts'', and the ''Greenpoint Butts''. The Lough and its fishing rights are privately owned and controlled by local fishing lodges in the Inagh Valley. Irish fishing author, Peter O'Reilly, said about Derryclare Lough that "This fishery has everything".

Scenic location

The lake is a popular scenic location, and extensively photographed, and offers views directly into the ''Glencoaghan Valley'' of the Twelve Bens and the peaks of the '' Glencoaghan Horseshoe'', a 16–kilometre 8–9 hour route that is considered one of Ireland's best hill-walks. The lough bounds the 19-hectare Derryclare Nature Reserve a ''Statutory Nature Reserve'', and the larger 789-hectare Derryclare Wood, a

Coillte Coillte (; ; meaning /) is a state-owned commercial forestry business in Ireland based in Newtownmountkennedy. Coillte manage approximately 7% of the country’s land, and operates three businesses - their core forestry business, a 'land solut ...

owned commercial

conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

forest.

Gallery

File:Derryclare Lough, Twelve Bens.jpg,

(centre), Bencorr (left), and

(far left) File:Derryclare Horseshoe, Connemara, Ireland.jpg,

with the rest of the '' Glencoaghan Horseshoe'' in cloud File:Derryclare Lake, Connemara.jpg, View into the '' Glencoaghan Horseshoe'' from Derryclare Lough

Bibliography

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References