Earth:Lough Lene
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| Lough Lene | |
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| Location | County Westmeath |
| Coordinates | [ ⚑ ] : 53°39′53″N 7°14′13″W / 53.66472°N 7.23694°W |
| Type | Glacial lake |
| Native name | [Loch Léinn (Irish)] Error: {{Native name}}: missing language tag (help) (language?) |
| Basin countries | Ireland |
| Surface area | 5 km2 (1.9 sq mi) |
| Surface elevation | 97 m (318 ft) |
| Frozen | Winters of 1951, 1982, Jan & Dec. 2010 |
| Islands | Nun's Island, Castle Island, Turgesius Island |
Lough Lene (Irish: Loch Léinn) is a lake situated in north County Westmeath, Ireland, between the villages of Castlepollard, Collinstown and Fore.
It has a rich and varied history, including several prehistoric burial sites, old ruins, a number of ancient village-type communal circular dwellings locally called ringforts, stiles, and mass paths. Lough Lene also has claims to being the home to kings and Vikings, such as Turgesius who had one of his forts upon the hill on the southwest overlooking the lake from the Ranaghan side, before being killed by Máel Sechnaill mac Maíl Ruanaid.
Lough Lene's water acts as a reservoir for several surrounding villages.
Geography and Hydrology
Lough Lene has a water surface of 4.16 km2.[1] It is fed by two little streams on its western end and its southern bank. It discharges into River Deal which joins River Boyne from the left near Donore Castle. From the outlet of Lough Lene, there is about 1 km of course to the junction with River Deel, which is about 2 km upstream of Lough Adeel
History and folklore
The name of the lake has appeared in a variety of ways including Lane, Léin and Leibhinn. Sir Henry Piers believed the lake's name translated as "Lake of Learning", tying in with his translation of Fore as the "Town of Books". However, other sources seem more inclined to the tradition that the lake was named after the daughter of the fabled Manannán mac Lir (see Children of Lir).
The lake is described in Samuel Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) as being an irregular oval shape, possibly 3.2 km (2.0 mi) long by 1.7 km (1.1 mi) broad. A fresh water lake, most sources focus on the clarity of the water, with the term "gin clear" being used to describe it. It sits approximately 97 metres (312 ft) above sea level and covers approximately 500 hectares.[citation needed]
The two other islands are Castle Island, and Turgesius Island.[2] An ancient bell was found on Castle Island in 1881 and is now in the National Museum of Ireland. A half size reproduction of the ancient bell was presented to Dáil Éireann in 1931 by the widow of a former member of the House, Bryan Cooper, and it has since been the bell of the Ceann Comhairle (chairperson) of Dáil Éireann.[3]
A survey revealed that Nun's Island was a complex stone structure with causeway-like features, while Castle Island showed the best potential, with a large assemblage of worked timbers. Two logboats were also recovered in 1968, one with dovetail joints. This work continues today.[4] These Roman-period log-boats were constructed for lake fishing, and were about 8 m long, 1.5 m wide, and 80 centimetres deep, were made of oak, yew, and possibly willow. The boats were paddle propelled. Other notable constructional features are that they were complex boats: carved; dugout (extended); mortice-and-tenon; and sewn.
In 1969, Collinstown, Rickardstown and Glenidan formed a Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) club called the Lough Lene Gaels.[5]
Water sports
Lough Lene was one of the first freshwater lakes in Ireland to obtain a Blue Flag for its pollution-free water.[citation needed]
Due to the quality and clarity of the water, together with the safe access at "the Cut", the lough is a popular bathing and swimming location.[citation needed] Local Triathlon clubs and Meath Masters Swimming Club train and hold events here regularly. In Summertime, average water temperatures are around 17c. One of the more popular training swims is out to Turgesius Island – a distance of one mile from the slipway at the cut.{{citation needed|date=June 2024} " of 5 large swimmers buoys was laid out along the North Shore in a 750m course (1500m return).[citation needed] More buoys were also installed in the separate designated bathing area.[citation needed]
Ecology
Conservation
Parts of the lake are protected, under the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43EEC), as a Special Area of Conservation.[6]
Lough Lene is a deep lake, which is 20 metres (66 ft) deep in some parts. It is a clear hard water lake with marl deposition particularly noticeable along long stretches of its shores.
The lake supports a range of pondweeds that include Potamogeton perfoliatus and P. lucens, Canadian pondweed (Elodea canadensis), and a variety of stoneworts (Chara spp., such as C. pedunculata and C. curta) which are marl or hard-water lake indicators.
A stony shore line fringes much of the lake, where there are species such as spike-rush (Eleocharis sp.) jointed rush (Polygonum persicaria), marsh pennywort (Hydrocotyle vulgaris), and sedges (Carex spp.). A narrow fringe of emigerent[clarification needed] plant species dominated by common reed (Phragmites australis) and common club-rush (Schoenoplectus lacustris) occurs along some stretches of the lakeshore.
Patches of wet woodland colonise former areas of cut-away and other low-lying areas close to the lake and are dominated by willows (Salix spp.), birch (Betula sp.) and alder (Alnus glutinosa) with patches of common reed also occurring. These areas support a rich flora. The ground flora of the wood at the northwestern end of the lake includes a range of peat mosses (Sphagnum spp.), bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) and heather (Calluna vulgaris). Alder carr occurs on the juttland[clarification needed] into the lake at its northwestern side.
Freshwater marsh/fen vegetation, with such species as purple moor-grass (Molinia caerulea), bottle sedge (Carex rostrata), black bog-rush (Schoenus nigricans), and marsh cinquefoil (Potentilla palustris), occurs in certain areas near the lake; one such area supports a population of rare round-leaved wintergreen (Pyrola rotundifolia subsp. rotundifolia).
Bird life
Bird species recorded at Lough Lene include mute swan, teal, pochard, great crested grebe, little grebe, tufted duck, grey heron, water rail, mallard, goldeneye, cormorant and wigeon. The surrounding lands are inhabited by snipe, lapwing and curlew. Of particular significance is the pochard population which, in the winters of 1995/1996 and 1996/1997, there were numbers of national importance averaging 515 individual birds of this population.
Much of the lake shore is accessible to grazing cattle, goats, sheep and horses. Unpolluted hard-water lakes such as Lough Lene are becoming increasingly rare in Ireland and in Europe and are of a type that is listed upon the Annex of the E.U. Habitat Directive.[original research?]
Crayfish
See also
- List of loughs in Ireland
References
- ↑ EPA Catchment Data, code: IE EA 07 274, waterbody: Lene
- ↑ "St. Colman's NS". http://www.ncte.ie/viking/colm2.htm.
- ↑ "Leinster House: A Tour and History – Tithe an Oireachtais". http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?fn=%2Fdocuments%2Ftour%2Fkildare06.asp.
- ↑ "Image Large". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070927220403/http://www.askaboutireland.ie/image_large?asset_id=7657. Retrieved 2006-12-31.
- ↑ "Geocities.com – Lough Lene Gaels". http://www.geocities.com/loughlenegaels.
- ↑ "Lough Lene SAC". National Parks and Wildlife Service. https://www.npws.ie/protected-sites/sac/002121. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
External links
- Viking Ireland Network school project (archived 2007)
- Lough Lene Monks Boat (archived 2007)
- Associated L.Lene boat text (archived 2007)
- Lough-lene.eu – Community pages
- The Cut, Lough Lene (archived 2007)
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