Lough Iron () is a small lake on the
River Inny, in
County Westmeath
County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...
,
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 ...
.
Description
A long and narrow lake, about 4 kilometers in length, it lies downstream from
Lough Derravaragh
Lough Derravaragh () is a lake in County Westmeath, Ireland, north of Mullingar between Castlepollard, Crookedwood and Multyfarnham.
Lough Derravaragh sits on the River Inny which flows from Lough Sheelin on its way to the River Shannon. ...
, close to
Lough Owel
Lough Owel () is a mesotrophic lough in the Midlands of Ireland, situated north of Mullingar, the county town of Westmeath. It has a maximum depth of . Water from Lough Owel feeds the Royal Canal, a canal crossing Ireland from Dublin to the ...
.
It is a renowned bird and wildlife sanctuary, and also known for its coarse fishing. The level of the lake has dropped dramatically since the 1960s due to drainage of the Inny; this has led to the development of freshwater marshes on large areas of the lake bed.
[Lough Iron, Ramsar Information Sheet]
wetlands.org
Lough Iron is not easily accessible as there is no road close to the lake or public access. Taking a boat down the River Inny is the only option.
History and etymology
Local landowner and antiquarian
Sir Henry Piers, writing in the 1680s, described a traditional story of the lake's origin:
:"Its name need not be Englished, but, as tradition goeth, it hath it on this occasion; it is said, that of old here was no lake at all
..a country farmer passing near, chanced to drop his plow-irons, which he was carrying to the forge, into the brook; hence it got a name, which in the Irish tongue sounds, the Iron-brook; this name held still, when the water prevailed over the low ground, the name was altered to that of the Iron-lake. This story I confess looks somewhat oddly"
[''Collectanea de rebus hibernicis, Volume 1'', L. White: Dublin, 1786. p. 38]
Despite his reservations, Piers added that "at the northern end of the lake, where the Inny runneth into it (as aforesaid) in a fair, calm and clear summer's day, you may be able to trace the old channel of the Inny, and plainly discern in eight or ten foot of water, the ancient banks the river had, on both sides thereof, before it overflowed and drowned all. Hereof I myself and many others, are witness."
[''Collectanea de rebus hibernicis'', p. 39]
References
External links
Angling information from the Shannon Fishery BoardMap of Lough Iron and surrounding townlands
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iron
Lakes of County Westmeath
Ramsar sites in the Republic of Ireland