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| Lough Ree | |
|---|---|
| Loch Rí (Irish) | |
 | |
  Lough Ree Location of Lough Ree in Ireland | |
| Location | Ireland |
| Coordinates | 53°30′N 7°58′W / 53.500°N 7.967°W |
| Primary inflows | River Shannon, River Inny |
| Primary outflows | River Shannon |
| Basin countries | Ireland |
| Surface area | 105 km2 (41 sq mi) |
| Surface elevation | 38 m (125 ft) |
| Islands | Inchcleraun, Inchbofin, Inchmore, Inchturk, Rinanny Island, Clawinch, Inchenagh |
| Settlements | Athlone, Roscommon, Ballyleague, Lanesborough, Newtowncashel, Ballykeeran, Glasson, Tang, Keenagh, Ballymahon |
Lough Ree (Irish: Loch Rí),[1] translated to English as King's Lake or King Lake,[citation needed] is a lake in the midlands of Ireland, the second of the three major lakes on the River Shannon. Lough Ree is the second largest lake on the Shannon after Lough Derg. The other two major lakes are Lough Allen to the north, and Lough Derg to the south. There are also several minor lakes along the length of the river. The lake serves as a border between the counties of Longford and Westmeath (both in the province of Leinster) on the eastern side and County Roscommon in the province of Connacht on the western side. The lake is popular for fishing and boating. The lake supports a small commercial eel fishery and is locally famous for its eels on wheels truck. The town of Athlone is situated at the southern end of the lake, and has a harbour for boats going out on the lake. The small town of Lanesboro is at the northern end of the lake.
The island of Inchcleraun (Inis Cloithreann) in the northern part of the lake is the site of a monastery founded in the early Christian era and contains the remains of several ancient churches. In Irish legends, it was on this island that Queen Maeve was killed. The Viking Turgesius controlled a ringfort on the shores until his death by drowning in Lough Owel.
Families lived on some of the islands in Lough Ree including Inchcleraun (Walsh & Farrell), The Black Islands (Hanly & O'Hara), Inchmore (Tiernan, Quigley, Nolan & Keefe), Hare Island (Duffy), Inchbofin (Connell), Inch Turk (Ganly, Slevin & Walsh) and Inchenagh (Shea, Killian & Connaughton) until the 1950s, when they were rehoused ashore. Like several other Irish loughs, Lough Ree has been the scene of claimed sightings of a lake monster over the years.[2]
The geographical centre of Ireland was previously calculated to be in the townland of Carnagh East, County Roscommon on the western shore of Lough Ree, opposite the Cribby Islands[3] Also Hodson pillar which is located on an island on the lake is said to be the most central point in Ireland. However, in 2022 Ordnance Survey Ireland did a new calculation which put the centre near Castletown Geoghegan in County Westmeath.[4]
- ^ "Loch Rí/Lough Ree". Placenames Database of Ireland (logainm.ie). Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and Dublin City University. Archived from the original on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ Irish Lake Monsters Archived 2011-08-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Ordnance Survey Ireland: FAQs". Archived from the original on 28 February 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
- ^ Kenny, Pat (25 February 2022). "Where is the centre of Ireland?". Ordnance Survey Ireland. Retrieved 27 September 2022.