Lake in Leitrim/Roscommon, Ireland
Lough Allen
(
Irish
:
Loch Aillionn
)
[2]
is a
lake
on the
River Shannon
[3]
in northeastern
Connacht
,
Ireland
. Most of the lake is in
County Leitrim
,
[3]
with a smaller part in
County Roscommon
. The lake lies to the south of the
River Shannon's source
, near the Iron Mountains, and is the uppermost of the three main lakes on the river. The other two,
Lough Ree
and
Lough Derg
are much further to the south.
Geography
[
edit
]
Lough Allen, out of which the Shannon takes its source, is nine miles long, and three miles wide.
The lake is shaped like an
isosceles triangle
. The Shannon enters the lake at the wider northern end and leaves the lake at the narrow southern end. Other rivers that feed the lake include the Diffagher (northwest), the
Yellow
(northeast), the Stoney (east) and the Arigna (southwest). The
R280
regional road
skirts the west side of the lake, while the
R207
follows the east bank,
[5]
from Ballinagleragh to
Drumshanbo
. The
R200 road
is on the north side of the lake, traveling west from
Dowra
to
Drumkeeran
.
Slieve Anierin
lie to the east of Lough Allen. There has been speculation that notable reserves of oil and gas lie beneath the Allen basin.
[6]
Ecology
[
edit
]
Between
c.
2001
? c.
2003
, water quality was reported to be excellent with an
oligotrophic
rating.
[n 1]
The pike population is the "native Irish strain" (
Irish
:
lius
meaning 'Irish
Pike
') not the other European
Pike
strain (
Irish
:
gailliasc
meaning 'strange or foreign fish').
[9]
The ecology of Lough Allen, and other Irish waterways, remain threatened by
curly waterweed
,
zebra mussel
, and
freshwater clam
invasive species.
[9]
Prehistory
[
edit
]
Significant traces of Mesolithic inhabitation have been found around the lakeshore, with hundreds of stone tools collected.
[11]
[12]
In total almost 1000 stone tools were collected during a set of surveys by
Killian Driscoll
, and 95% were formed on silicified dolomite, which outcrops locally. The remaining 5% were formed from flint, chert and quartz, along with the
shale/mudstone and basalt ground/polished axes. The majority of the stone tools are characteristic of the Later Mesolithic, with possible evidence for the Early Mesolithic and limited evidence for Neolithic activity.
[12]
The assemblage includes a number of stone axes and axe roughouts, and the roughouts represent the first recorded, by the
Irish Stone Axe Project
, as found in a lakeside context in Ireland, with most previously provenanced examples coming from axe quarry sites.
[13]
History
[
edit
]
Ironworks
[
edit
]
Iron ore
has been extracted at
Slieve Anierin
for millennia.
From the early 17th century a number of mines and works were conveniently contiguous to Lough Allen, allowing for the transportation of iron ore over water to the
ironworks
in boats of up to forty tons. During the
Irish Rebellion of 1641
nearly all ironworks were destroyed, but many were revived by the English after the
Irish Confederate Wars
.
Extensive forests around Lough Allen before the 17th century were denuded to make charcoal for ironworks,
the industry later collapsing in the 19th century.
Reservoir
[
edit
]
On the construction of the
Shannon hydroelectric scheme
in 1925?9, the lake became a storage reservoir for the power station nearly 100 miles away, with sluices to control the flow into the river. This helps to maintain the flow during dry periods and manage flooding at other times. It made the
Lough Allen Canal
, which was rarely used by this time, unusable until restored in 1996.
[17]
Regattas
[
edit
]
In the mid-19th century, regattas were held by M. O'Conor at Lough Allen Island which is also known as O'Reilly's Island at the southern end of the lake. The house is destroyed, and only a ruin now exists. Regatta parties were held at Birchill's House, Blackrock. E.K. Tenison of Kilronan Castle, the photographer, Captain Tottenham, Captain Birchill and Francis la Touche attended the Regatta parties. Among the yachts competing in the regattas were 'Corsair', 'Avenger', 'Querida', 'Meta' and 'Shamrock'.
[18]
The Water Wags from Dun Laoghaire, organised a regatta on Lough Allen, in September 2015, for their 14'-3" long historic open clinker dinghies. competed in a regatta in 2014, including Penelope (1933), Scallywag, Swift, Moosmie (1910), Mollie, Chloe, Marie Louise (1927) and Good Hope. This was probably the first regatta on the lake since the mid-19th century.
[19]
Recreation
[
edit
]
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January 2022
)
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See also
[
edit
]
References and notes
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
Primary sources
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
Jahncke, Michael J.; Garrett, E. Spencer; Reilly, Alan; Martin, Roy E.; Cole, Emille, eds. (2002).
Public, Animal, and Environmental Aquaculture Health Issues
. Wiley. p. 92.
ISBN
0-471-38772-X
.
Archived
from the original on 24 September 2021
. Retrieved
20 December
2020
.
- ^
"Placenames Database of Ireland"
.
Archived
from the original on 19 February 2021
. Retrieved
10 April
2012
.
- ^
a
b
Bord Failte (2001).
Bord Failte Ireland Guide, 4th Edition
. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. p. 775.
ISBN
0-312-27048-8
.
Archived
from the original on 24 September 2021
. Retrieved
20 December
2020
.
- ^
Bord Failte (2001).
Bord Failte Ireland Guide, 4th Edition
. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. p. 779.
ISBN
0-312-27048-8
.
Archived
from the original on 24 September 2021
. Retrieved
20 December
2020
.
- ^
"Ireland on the verge of an oil and gas bonanza"
.
Irish Independent
. 20 May 2007.
Archived
from the original on 1 March 2011
. Retrieved
11 June
2009
.
- ^
a
b
Pedreschi, Debbi; Kelly?Quinn, Mary; Caffrey, Joe; O'Grady, Martin; Mariani, Stefano (2014). Phillimore, Albert (ed.).
"Genetic structure of pike ( E sox lucius ) reveals a complex and previously unrecognized colonization history of I reland"
.
Journal of Biogeography
.
41
(3): 548?560.
doi
:
10.1111/jbi.12220
.
ISSN
0305-0270
.
PMC
4238397
.
PMID
25435649
.
- ^
Driscoll, Killian (2006).
The early prehistory in the west of Ireland: Investigations into the social archaeology of the Mesolithic, west of the Shannon, Ireland
.
Archived
from the original on 9 April 2017
. Retrieved
8 April
2017
.
- ^
a
b
- ^
Cooney, G; Mandal, S (1998).
The Irish Stone Axe Project: Monograph I
. Bray: Wordwell.
ISBN
1869857232
.
- ^
Delany, Ruth (2004).
Ireland's Inland Waterways
. Appletree Press. p. 133.
- ^
Alf Delany archives
- ^
Water Wag Newsletter 2015
Secondary sources
[
edit
]
- Clenaghan, Conor; Clinton, Frank; Crowe, Matthew (2005).
Phosphorus Regulations National Implementation Report
(PDF)
(Report). Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Environmental Enforcement.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 25 October 2017
. Retrieved
9 February
2017
.
- Pedreschi, D.; Kelly-Quinn, M.; Caffrey, J; O'Grady, M.; Mariani, S.; Phillimore, A. (2014), "Genetic structure of pike (Esox lucius) reveals a complex and previously unrecognized colonization history of Ireland",
Journal of Biogeography
,
41
(3), Journal of Biogeography, 41(3), 548?560.: 548?560,
doi
:
10.1111/jbi.12220
,
PMC
4238397
,
PMID
25435649
,
S2CID
13486116
- Boate, Gerard (1653).
Irelands Naturall History
(Digitized 2009 ed.). Samuell Hartlib, For the Common Good of Ireland, and more especially, for the benefit of the Adventurers and Planters therein; Imprinted at London for John Wright at the Kings Head, in the Old Bayley.
Archived
from the original on 24 February 2017
. Retrieved
24 February
2017
.