Enagh Lough () is a pair of

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much lar ...

s called East lake and Westlake, situated between Judges Road and Temple Road in

Maydown Maydown ( meaning "plain of the stronghold")Placenames NI
is a small County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulste ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

Features

Under the surface at the bottom of the lake there is ice age water.

The Honourable The Irish Society The Honourable The Irish SocietyIn full, the "Society of the Governor and Assistants, London, of the New Plantation in Ulster, within the Realm of Ireland". is a consortium of livery companies of the City of London established during the Plantat ...

have leased the fishing rights to the local Strathfoyle Community Association as many local residents use the area for angling and walking. Enagh Lough is an outstanding area of natural beauty, with vivid wildlife including

red squirrel The red squirrel (''Sciurus vulgaris'') is a species of tree squirrel in the genus '' Sciurus'' common throughout Europe and Asia. The red squirrel is an arboreal, primarily herbivorous rodent. In Great Britain, Ireland, and in Italy numbers ...

s and

Pipistrelle bat ''Pipistrellus'' is a genus of bats in the family Vespertilionidae and subfamily Vespertilioninae. The name of the genus is derived from the Italian word , meaning "bat" (from Latin "bird of evening, bat"). The size of the genus has been c ...

s, both of which are fast becoming scarce in Northern Ireland. Also situated on the lough is Green Island, also known as Templetown Island or Enagh Crannog, which is accessible by wading.

History

Green Island was created by a clan from

Dungiven Dungiven () is a small town, townland and civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is near the main A6 Belfast to Derry road, which bypasses the town. It lies where the rivers Roe, Owenreagh and Owenbeg meet at the foot of the ...

. The Bishop of Derry once hid on the island in a tower as he was a wanted man by some. The island is recognised the

Northern Ireland Environment Agency The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) is an executive agency within the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA). It is responsible for Conservation ethic, conservation of Northern Ireland's environment and natu ...

as a historical monument. All around the lough is hidden history, and just a short walk away is the Enagh Trout Fishery and old graveyard. Strathfoyle Youth Forum are currently working with local wildlife and environmental organisations such as the Ulster Wildlife Trust, in hope that the areas wildlife can be protected and walkways and fishing jetties created. On 29 August 1944, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

Fairey Barracuda The Fairey Barracuda was a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber designed by Fairey Aviation. It was the first aircraft of this type operated by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA) to be fabricated entirely from metal. The Barracud ...

(DP872) was returning to its base at

East Haven, Angus East Haven is a fishing village in the subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland. It is situated east of Carnoustie and south west of Arbroath. The closest city, Dundee, is to the west. East Haven has a long history and is f ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

from

RNAS Maydown (HMS Shrike) Royal Naval Air Station Maydown or RNAS Maydown (HMS Shrike) is a former Fleet Air Arm base located northeast of Derry, County Londonderry and west of Limavady, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Units A number of units were here at some po ...

. The aircraft crashed into Enagh Lough with the loss of all three crew. In May 1971, there was a huge Naval recovery operation to find the wreckage of the aircraft. In August 2022 two 16-year-old boys drowned in the lough.

In popular culture

*Enagh Lough is the setting for a number of Derry's ghost stories including the man with a dog's head. *Enagh was the site of a major excavations in the search for Celtic relics. *The now defunct Gaelic football team, Enagh GAC was named after the lough. *Enagh once froze over so completely that people drove cars on the ice.

Features

History

In popular culture

References

External links