Lough Boderg ()
is a lake on the
River Shannon
The River Shannon ( or archaic ') is the major river on the island of Ireland, and at in length, is the longest river in the British Isles. It drains the Shannon River Basin, which has an area of , – approximately one fifth of the area of I ...
in
County Roscommon
County Roscommon () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the List of Irish counties by area, 11th largest Irish county by area and Li ...
and
County Leitrim
County Leitrim ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim, County Leitr ...
, Ireland.
Description
Logh Boderg is a large lough with a surface area of about which is on the River Shannon,
between
Kilmore, County Roscommon and
Annaduff in County Leitrim.
The woodland of
Derrycarne which were part of the lands owned by the Nesbitt family in the early 1800s sit on the shores of the Lough, the paths there give access to the lough's shoreline.
History and legend
The lake's name is Irish for "Lake of the red cow." Lough Boderg is separated from
Lough Bofin ("Lake of the white cow") by the Derrycarne Narrows. There is a legend on how the loughs got their names, the story goes that a mermaid was found in the water of one of the loughs and taken to a nearby farmhouse. The people in the farmhouse were kind to her and to pay them back for their kindness the mermaid began to tell fortunes. The mermaid predicted that if the people put her back in the water, in the eve of May day, which was soon, that they would be generously repaid one year later. The people did as she said, placed her back in the water and said goodbye. A year to the day, they returned to the place where they had put the mermaid back in the water and were astonished to see two cows coming out of the water, a red one and a white one.
used Lough Boderg as one of the traditional boundaries of the ancient
Kingdom of Meath
Meath ( ; ; ) was a kingdom in Ireland from the 1st to the 12th century AD. Its name means "middle," denoting its location in the middle of the island.
At its greatest extent, it included all of County Meath (which takes its name from the k ...
: "From Loch-Bo-Deirg to Birra
'Birr'' From Sena
'Shannon''eastward to the sea."
Recreation
Lough Boderg is a noted fishery for
bream
Bream (, ) are species of freshwater fish belonging to a variety of genera including '' Abramis'' (e.g., ''A. brama'', the common bream), '' Ballerus'', '' Blicca'', '' Brama'', '' Chilotilapia'', '' Etelis'', '' Lepomis'', '' Gymnocranius'', ...
,
rudd,
roach,
northern pike
The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...
,
eel and
perch
Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...
.
[
The North Shannon Motor Yacht Club is based on Lough Boderg.]
See also
* List of loughs in Ireland
This is an alphabetical list of loughs (lakes) on the island of Ireland. It also shows a table of the largest loughs. The word ''loch, lough'' is pronounced like ''loch'' () and comes from the Irish language, Irish ''loch'', meaning ''lake''.
Acc ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boderg, Lough
Lakes of County Leitrim
Lakes of County Roscommon
River Shannon