Lough Gill () is a freshwater

lough ''Loch'' ( ) is a word meaning "lake" or " sea inlet" in Scottish and Irish Gaelic, subsequently borrowed into English. In Irish contexts, it often appears in the anglicized form "lough". A small loch is sometimes called a lochan. Lochs whic ...

(

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

) mainly situated in

County Sligo County Sligo ( , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region and is part of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in ...

, but partly in

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 ...

, in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Lough Gill provides the setting for

William Butler Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th century in literature, 20th-century literature. He was ...

' poem " The Lake Isle of Innisfree".

Location and environment

Lough Gill is about 8 km or 5 miles long and 2 km or 1 mile wide. The Lough Gill system consists of the river Bonet that flows into the eastern end of the lake and the

River Garavogue The Garavogue or Garvoge ( is a river in County Sligo, northwest Republic of Ireland, Ireland, known historically as the Sligeach or Sligo River. Etymology Garavogue is not the original name of the river, which was earlier and for centuries c ...

which drains the lake to the west near

Sligo Town Sligo ( ; , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of 20,608 in 2022, it is the county's largest urban centre (constituting 2 ...

. The picturesque lake is surrounded by woodlands, such as Slish Wood, Dooney Rock, and Hazelwood all of which contain popular nature trails and viewing points along the lake. The wooded hills of Slieve Killery and Slieve Daean dominate the south shore. It is a popular location for

birdwatchers Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescop ...

.
, Lough Gill Tours

Flora and fauna

Lough Gill has a unique microclimate and is noted for its high number of rare or scarce animal and plant species. It is part of the Lough Gill SAC ( Special Areas of Conservation, Special Area of Conservation) for habitats listed on Annex I and II of the E.U. Habitats Directive, including two with priority status: alluvial forest, orchid-rich calcareous grassland. The vegetation of the area was dominated by mixed woodland from 4,600 BC to at least 1400 AD. Scots pine was dominant until 3,400 BC. In a scientific study, ''

Arbutus unedo ''Arbutus unedo'', commonly known as strawberry tree, also called madrone, is an evergreen shrub or small tree in the family Ericaceae, native to the Mediterranean Basin and Western Europe. The tree is well known for its fruits, the arbutus berr ...

'' pollen was found at Slish Lake dating from as early as 100 AD, and so it is considered native to this area. The woods surrounding the lake are dominated by oak (''

Quercus An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

'' spp.), rowan (''

Sorbus aucuparia ''Sorbus aucuparia'', commonly called rowan (, also ) and mountain-ash, is a species of deciduous tree or shrub in the rose family. The tree has a slender trunk with smooth bark, a loose and roundish crown, and its leaves are pinnate in pairs o ...

'') and willows (''

Salix Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

'' spp.). The shores of the lake are home to the world's northernmost specimens of the rare Mediterranean strawberry tree (''Arbutus unedo''). It is a small evergreen tree of the family

Ericaceae The Ericaceae () are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with about 4,250 known species spread acros ...

, which in Ireland can grow to be a forest tree, reaching heights of up to 15 metres. Its Irish name is ''caithne''. The lake shore and surroundings support several rare plant species, including yellow bird's-nest (''

Monotropa hypopitys ''Monotropa hypopitys'', the so-called Dutchman's pipe, false beech-drops, pinesap, or yellow bird's-nest, is a herbaceous perennial plant, formerly classified in the families Monotropaceae or Pyrolaceae, but now included within the subfamily Mon ...

''), lady's mantle (''

Alchemilla glaucescens ''Alchemilla glaucescens'' is a species of plants belonging to the family Rosaceae. It is native to Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arct ...

''), ivy broomrape (''

Orobanche hederae ''Orobanche hederae'', the ivy broomrape, is, like other members of the genus ''Orobanche'', a parasitic plant without chlorophyll, and thus totally dependent on its host, which is ivy. It grows to , with stems in shades of brown and purple, som ...

''), black bryony (''

Tamus communis ''Dioscorea communis'' or ''Tamus communis'' is a species of flowering plant in the yam family Dioscoreaceae and is commonly known as black bryony, lady's-seal or black bindweed. Description It is a climbing herbaceous plant growing to 2–4 m ...

''), intermediate wintergreen (''

Pyrola media ''Pyrola media'', the intermediate wintergreen, is a flowering plant in the genus ''Pyrola'', native to northern and eastern Europe and Western Asia.''Flora Europaea'Pyrola media''/ref> It is a herbaceous evergreen perennial plant with a basa ...

'') and bird's-nest orchid (''

Neottia nidus-avis ''Neottia nidus-avis'', the bird's-nest orchid, is a non-photosynthetic orchid, native to Europe, Russia, with sporadic presence in North-Africa, and some parts of the Middle East. Description ''Neottia nidus-avis'' grows to tall and each sh ...

''). It is also home to the following rare or protected species:

sea lamprey The sea lamprey (''Petromyzon marinus'') is a parasitic lamprey native to the Northern Hemisphere. It is sometimes referred to as the "vampire fish". It was likely introduced to the Great Lakes region through the Erie Canal in 1825 and the Wel ...

, river lamprey, brook lamprey,

white-clawed crayfish ''Austropotamobius pallipes'' is an endangered European freshwater crayfish, and the only crayfish native to the British Isles. Its common names include white-clawed crayfish and Atlantic stream crayfish. Distribution It is found from the easter ...

Atlantic salmon The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Hucho taimen, Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlan ...

and

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among ...

. The Lough Gill water system gets a very early run of spring salmon. A small colony of

common tern The common tern (''Sterna hirundo'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in Temperateness, temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is stron ...

s breed on the lake's islands (20 pairs in 1993).

Kingfishers Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species living in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

are also found on the lake.

Islands

The lake contains about 20 small islands, including the Isle of Innisfree, made famous by

's poem titled ' The Lake Isle of Innisfree'. There are other islands on the lake such as Church Island, which is home to the ruins of a 6th century

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

founded by

Saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

Lommán of Trim. Another notable island is Cottage island or Beezie's Island, which was inhabited until 1949.

History

In 1836 Thomas O'Connor of the

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

noted a saying amongst the people that went "

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

is the Grianán of Ireland, Cairbre is the Grianán of Connacht, Calry is the Grianán of Cairbre and the Hill is the Grianán of Calgaich". Gríanán is a word meaning literally "sunny place" and implies a place of great natural beauty. The hill of Grianán is at the eastern shore of Lough Gill. In the early historic era (5th-8th centuries), the area was home to a branch of the

Cálraighe The Cálraighe were a population-group found mostly in northern Connacht as well as County Westmeath and County Longford. They were purported descendants of Lugaid Cal, son of Daire Sirchrechtaig, who was himself a supposed descendant of Lugaid m ...

Parke's Castle Parke's Castle is a 17th-century Manor house. It was originally known as Newtowne and is situated on the shore of Lough Gill, County Leitrim, Ireland. Parke's Castle was built on the site of an earlier 16th century O'Rourke (''West Breifne, Uí ...

, a plantation fortified house on the northern shore, was built in the early 17th century by Captain Robert Parke on the site of a former tower house of the Uí Ruairc

clann A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

. The Uí Ruairc clan ruled the area from about the 7th century up to the time of

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

Annal entries

In 1196 - Congalach, the son of Farrell O'Rourke, was slain by the men of Lúighne, on Slieve-da-én (Mountain of the Two Birds). 1346 - A war broke out between O'Rourke, i.e. Ualgarg, and Rory, the son of Cathal O'Conor; and an engagement took place between them in Calry-Lough-Gill, in which O'Rourke was routed, and all his

gallowglass The Gallowglass (also spelled galloglass, gallowglas or galloglas; from meaning "foreign warriors") were a class of elite mercenary warriors who were principally members of the Norse-Gaelic clans of Ireland and Scotland between the mid 13th ...

es slain, i.e. Mac Buirrce, and Mac Neill Cam with their people. O'Rourke was afterwards pursued by Rory O'Conor and the Clann-Donough, and was killed by Mulrony Mac Donough. This was a lamentable deed.

Recent history

The lake became part of the Hazelwood estate in the 17th century.

Mythology

The Metrical Dinnsenchus tells the following story of how the lake came to be and how it got its name.

"Bright Gile, Romra's daughter, to whom every harbour was known, the broad lake bears her name to denote its outbreak of yore.
The maiden went, on an errand of pride that has hushed the noble hosts, to bathe in the spray by the clear sand-strewn spring.
While the modest maiden was washing in the unruffled water of the pool, she sees on the plain tall Omra as it were an oak, lusty and rude.
Seeing her lover draw near, the noble maid was stricken with shame: she plunged her head under the spring yonder: the nimble maid was drowned.
Her nurse came and bent over her body and sat her down yonder in the spring: as she keened for Gile vehemently, she fell in a frenzy for the girl.
As flowed the tears in sore grief for the maiden, the mighty spring rose over her, till it was a vast and stormy lake.
Loch Gile is named from that encounter after Gile, daughter of Romra: there Omra got his death from stout and lusty Romra.
Romra died outright of his sorrow on the fair hill-side: from him is lordly Carn Romra called, and Carn Omra from Omra, the shame-faced

Loch Gile here is named from Gile, Romra's daughter."

Carn Romra and Carn Omra are the names of the two large neolithic cairns on Cairns hill overlooking the lake. Sliabh Dhá Éan is also associated with myth.

Gallery

Image:Parke's Castle - geograph.org.uk - 985475.jpg, Parke's Castle and Lough Gill Image:Green Island on Lough Gill with Kilkenny Mountain beyond - geograph.org.uk - 1596452.jpg, Green Island with Kilkenny Mountain in background Image:Lough Gill. Co. Sligo Ireland.jpg, The lake circa 1900 Image:Slish Wood Forest Trail - geograph.org.uk - 980403.jpg, Slish Wood forest trail Image:Tour boat, Lough Gill.jpg, Tour boat on the lake

References

External links

''Sligo Walks'' (Slish Wood)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gill Lakes of County Sligo Lakes of County Leitrim