Lough Graney
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Lough Graney Loch Gréine |
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| Geographical location | County Clare , Republic of Ireland | |
| Tributaries | Bleach River | |
| Drain | Graney → Lough O'Grady → Scariff River → Lough Derg | |
| Data | ||
| Coordinates | 52 ° 59 '58 " N , 8 ° 39' 50" W | |
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| length | 5 km | |
| width | 1 km | |
The Lough Graney ( Irish : Loch Gréine ) is a lake in County Clare in the west of the Republic of Ireland .
The approximately 5 km long and 0.5 to 1 km wide in north-south direction extending body of water is the largest lake in the lake district in the eastern part of the county. The lake is fed at the northern end just south of the 53rd parallel from the Bleach River , which comes from Lough Atorick (Irish Loch an Tóraic ) and the Slieve-Aughty Mountains (Irish Sliabh Eachtaí ).
Lough Graney was probably formed at the end of the last ice age when the ice retreated. A glacier valley can be made out to the southeast of the lake. The lakeshore is sparsely populated and largely wooded or bordered by meadows and fields. Megalithic systems can also be found in exposed places on the lake shore .
The lake, which is a popular fishing area, is characterized by abundance of fish. To the north and east runs the Slieve-Aughty Mountains of red sandstone, which also form the border with County Galway . Flagmount (ir. Leacain an Éadain ) on the east bank in the middle of the lake and Caher (ir. An Chathair ) on the southern end of the lake are places that provide access to the lake shore. Since the early 1990s, Flagmount has held a cultural festival right on the lakeshore every year. Across from Flagmount, in the middle part of the lake, is the lake's largest island, Green Island .
Near Caher at the southern end of the lake, at Bunshoon Bridge , a memorial stone was erected in the early 1990s for the Irish poet Brian Merriman , who was inaugurated by the Irish writer, poet and Nobel Prize winner Seamus Heaney . The stone is engraved with the first lines from the 1000-line poem “The Midnight Court” ( Cúirt to Mheán Oíche ) by Merriman, as the opening scene of the poem takes place on the banks of Lough Graney , or rather on Loch Gréine , because the poem is in Munster dialect of the Irish language . In this way the area went down in literature. As is so often the case in Ireland, this lake has also received musical recognition. "The Shores of Lough Graney" is the title of a reel that is played on the fiddle.
Surroundings
Lough O'Grady (ir. Loch Uí Ghráda ) lies south of Lough Graney . Both lakes are connected by the River Graney (Irish An Ghréin ), which flows out of Lough Graney. As the Scariff River (Irish An Scairbh ) the flowing water leaves the Lough O'Grady again to finally flow into Lough Derg . The Scariff River is one of the most beautiful inland waterways in Ireland. The river meanders for more than 5 km from Scariff through Tuamgraney to Lough Derg. The area between Feakle and Lough Graney is also known as the Killarney of Clare . A rich flora and fauna is open to the visitor. Pine, spruce, alder, beech and birch as well as badgers, squirrels and birds of all kinds can be found in the forests. In Bleach River to Otter can be observed. The area around the lake is also popular with hikers and so the "East Clare Way" hiking trail was created here.
Web links
- Local map of Feakle and Lough Graney (PDF; 1.3 MB)
- Timetable bus Éireann line 348 Scariff-Flagmount-Feakle-Tulla - Ennis (bus goes via Clooney and Spancil Hill). (PDF; 24 kB)
- Information about Lough Graney
- Information about Caher House on Lough Graney
- Trail near Lough Graney from Flagmount to Turkenagh (detailed description)
- Lough Graney from Flagmount on geograph.ie
- General information about Lough Graney and its water catchment area (PDF; 570 kB) with photos
References and comments
- ↑ The road from Caher to Flagmount leads over Bunshoon Bridge. The bridge lies exactly between the outflow of the River Graney (Irish An Ghréin) at the southern end of the lake and the confluence with the Caher River (Irish Abhainn na Cathrach ). There is a parking lot in front of the bridge facing the lake.
- ↑ The beginning of the poem in today's Standard Irish with an English translation on showhouse.com In the fifth line the name of the lake is already mentioned.
- ↑ Merriman didn't write the poem himself down, by the way. As was common in Ireland at the time, it was passed on orally and was first printed in the middle of the 19th century under the title: "Mediae Noctis Concilium - Cúirt an Mheónoídhche" (Latin and Irish). The poem was first translated into German in 1905.
- ↑ The notes of the reel on fiddletech.com (PDF; 10 kB)
- ↑ Information on the "East Clare Way" hiking trail and bicycle tours on hillviewbandb.com ( Memento of the original from September 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
