Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Aatomic1 (talk | contribs) at 06:51, 30 April 2007 (Agreed). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Lough Neagh" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2006) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Lough Neagh (pronounced ; Irish Loch nEathach ) is a freshwater lake in Northern Ireland. With an area of 388 square kilometres (150 square miles) it is by far the largest lake on the island of Ireland and is the largest lake in the United Kingdom; among the lakes of Western Europe as a whole it is the third largest (after Lake Geneva and Lake Constance). Approximately 30 km (20 mi) long and 15 km (9 mi) wide, Lough Neagh is situated some 30 km (20 mi) to the west of Belfast. It is very shallow around the margins and the average depth in the main body of the lake is about 9 m (30 ft); although at its deepest the lough is about 25 m (80 ft) deep.

Of the 4550km catchment area, 9% lies in Republic of Ireland ; 43% of the land area of Northern Ireland is drained into the lough , which itself flows out northwards to the sea via the River Bann. As one of its sources is the Upper Bann, the Lough can itself be considered a part of the Bann.

Five of the six counties of Northern Ireland have shores on the Lough: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Londonderry and Tyrone. Towns and villages near the Lough include Antrim, Crumlin, Toomebridge, Ballyronan, Ballinderry, Moortown, Ardboe, Maghery, Lurgan and Magherafelt.

Although the Lough is used for a variety of recreational and commercial activities, it is exposed and tends to get extremely rough very quickly in windy conditions. It is also used as a source of fresh water by the DRD Water Service. Plans to increase the amount of water drawn from the Lough, through a new water treatment works at Hog Park Point, have long been planned but are yet to materialise.

Traditional working boats on Lough Neagh include wide-beamed 16-21ft clinker-built, sprit-rigged working boats and smaller flat-bottomed cots and 'flats'. Barges, here called 'lighters', were used up to the 1940 to transport coal over the lough and adjacent canals. Up to the 17th century, log boats (coití) were the main means of transport, some of which are as old as 6,400 years. Few traditional boats are left now, but a community based group on the southern shore of the lough is rebuilding a series of working boats Lough Neagh Boating Heritage Association.

Lough Neagh Rescue provides a rescue service 24 hours a day. It is a voluntary service, but its members are dedicated and possess significant expertise. Rescues are coordinated by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Lough Neagh attracts bird watchers from many nations due to the number and variety of birds which winter and summer in the boglands and shores around the lough.

Eel fishing has been a major industry in Lough Neagh for centuries. Today Lough Neagh eel fisheries export their eels to restaurants all over the world.

There are a number of islands in the lough: Coney Island, Coney Island Flat, Croaghan Flat, Derrywarragh Island, Padian, Ram's Island, Phil Roe's Flat and The Shallow Flat. (Note: list incomplete)

Lough Neagh was widely assumed to be owned by the state, but in 2005 it publicly emerged that it is the ancestral property of the Earls of Shaftesbury. This may have serious implications for planned changes to state-run domestic water services in Northern Ireland, as the lough supplies 40% of the region's drinking water and is also used as a sewage outfall (in a system only permissible through Crown immunity).

Legend

An old Irish story tells how the Lough was formed when Ireland's legendary giant Fionn mac Cumhaill (sometimes known as Finn McCool) scooped up a portion of the land and tossed it at a Scottish rival. He missed, and the chunk of earth landed in the Irish Sea, thus creating the Isle of Man.

See also

• List of Irish lochs and loughs
• List of lakes

References

1. Environmental Change Network
2. Northern Ireland Rivers Agency

External links

• Lough Neagh Boating Heritage Association
• Lough Neagh Rescue
• BBC News on pollution
• BBC News on ownership of Lough Neagh
• Google satellite map of Lough Neagh, with Belfast to the right hand side
• Oxford Island National Nature Reserve

• Articles lacking sources from November 2006
• Loughs of County Antrim
• Loughs of County Armagh
• Loughs of County Down
• Loughs of County Londonderry
• Loughs of County Tyrone
• Reservoirs in Northern Ireland