Lough Carra, County Mayo - A Lake beside Lough Mask, Ireland
Lough Carra, County Mayo - A Lake beside Lough Mask Between Ballinrobe, Ballintubber and Claremorris
We stayed in a lovely Airbnb that overlooked this lake, we arrived close to sunset - too good an opportunity to miss. The scenery was stunning - the mountains in the backdrop. We used the area as our base for visiting the historic sites in the area. It is meant to be a nice fishing lake - but I did not get to test this :-) In Ireland Lough means - large freshwater area - basically from Irish it means a lake, pool.
There are a few small towns in the area - but the lough is in the area called Partry - between Ballintober, Ballinrobe and not too far from Claremorris.
The natural scenery in Ireland is never ending, you will always find yourself visiting one place and directly moving on to the next. Lough Carra in County Mayo is one of those places which we decided to stop at and discover along with the attractions found around which we might need to visit and have a look at.
Lough Carra is located in the Barony of Carra, County Mayo, which is about 8 miles away from Castlebar, which is the county town of County Mayo and the largest town in it. Lough Carra is 6 miles long and it drains into the Lough Mask via the Keel River.
For those who are interested to know more about history, Lough Carra was part of the estate of the well-known Moore family of Moore Hall, which is situated to the south of the village Carnacon in the barony of Carra, in a karst limestone landscape (
Lough Carra is known to be the largest marl lake in Ireland and is also part of the Great Western Lakes complex; it has many islands and a ragged shoreline with a plethora of bays and promontories. Lough Carra is the largest marl lake in Ireland and is part of the Great Western Lakes complex. It covers 1,560 hectares and is joined to Lough Mask by the Keel River. It has many islands and a ragged shoreline with a plethora of bays and promontories, all on a bedrock of limestone.
Visiting a new place will be always attached to the idea of knowing everything about it and visiting all the historical places found around which might carry any significance. Mentioning some of those historical buildings which are found around the area, there is the Burriscarra Abbey, Castle Carra, Moore Hall, the tower houses that are found in the barony of Carra, as well as those big houses which some studies managed to pay attention to.
For those who are good fishers, this is considered a recommended place for them, but those who are not so good at fishing will still enjoy the clear water that will give them a good view of the fishes swimming just below the surface of the water.
As we have just mentioned above, we stayed at the Lough Carra while visiting some of the other locations that are found near. Lough Carra means some top sights to pass by during this vacation and you staying in the area, such as the Moore Hall, the Ballintubber Abbey ( Castle Carra, and the Lough Mask. According to the place you are staying at, you will get the chance to be involved with some activities or else enjoy the idea of fishing and walking around the area.
There are different Loughs (or lakes) - apparently more than 12, 000 - to be found in Ireland , so in addition to Lough Carra, there are others which you should know about as well, such as Lough Neagh which is the largest in the area, followed by Lough Corrib which is the second largest.
Not all the Loughs in Northern Ireland and Ireland are of any importance but some of them still carry a significant historical, geological, and geographic importance. From those which carry any kind of importance, there is the Neagh, Corrib, Derg, Lower Lough Erne, Ree, Mask, Conn, Allen, Upper Lough Erne, Melvin, Leane, Sheelin, and Carra - those are also considered the largest freshwater loughs in Ireland.
Every single one might be carrying a different story and every single one will have those locations and historical places that are found around and near - since they are not only the largest, but they are also the ones mostly known in Northern Ireland and Ireland.
From the most important things that took place recently in the past couple of years on one of those important loughs - the largest lough - is the scenes that appeared in the shooting of Game of Thrones movie series (
There are different places that one might think about visiting when it comes to the loughs in Northern Ireland and Ireland, such as the Toome Canal off the Lough Neagh ( there is also the Lough Shore Park in Antrim ( one could also manage to come and see the Browns Bay in Northern Ireland ( or else get to check the map and see where they are willing to head.
Lough Carra in county Mayo;
The Kerry Way, Ireland: From Lough Acoose into the Black Valley
Today was arguably, the hardest day, along The Kerry Way. We left Lough Acoose B&B to follow along the shore (lough means lake), into the foothills of MacGillcuddy Reeks, and up and over the first pass. Down into the Bridia Valley, the trail continued over a second mountain saddle to the Black Valley for an overnight at Hillcrest B&B.
A tough, tough day that went on forever as we picked our way down through large amounts of mud covering rocks which made concentrating on every footstep important. Even then, we both slipped and fell on occasion with Marine Steve taking the hardest fall when he landed on his hiking pole, right in the rib cage. (That, later caused a visit a clinic in Dublin.) It also rained from miles 8-10!
Very wet and tired, we gratefully accepted a lift to Hillcrest B&B where it took hours to truly warm up.
Mountain Biking in Clydagh Valley, Kerry, Ireland
Mountain Biking over fresh snow through forests in the Clydagh Valley in Kerry, Ireland. Produced by pauldolandesign@gmail.com
audio = Alt J - Breezeblocks