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;
Fotoreise Irland: Ireland for photographers with more than 100 locations
Watch in HD (1080). More than 100 locations in 2 weeks from the 1st to the 15th of September 2018 with 2920km on the road and 160km hiking!
You also can swith to each day or location here down below:
0:01 Day 1: Flight from Vienna to Dublin via Amsterdam 30km
0:01 Flight
0:19 Dublin
0:45 Day 2: From Dublin short in the North 198km
0:45 Malahide Castle & Gardens
1:09 Monasterboice High Cross and Round Tower
1:54 Newgrange
2:04 Trim Castle
2:22 Day 3: From Dublin to Carlow 208km
2:22 Wicklow Mountains
2:45 Browneshill Dolmen
2:55 Carlow Castle
3:13 Levitstown Mill
3:20 Ballyadams Castle
3:27 Day 4: From Carlow to Cork 262km
3:27 Cullohill Castle
3:47 Balief Castle
3:53 Rock of Cashel
4:46 Hore Abbey
5:27 Cahir Castle
5:58 Blarney Castle
6:36 Cork
6:40 Day 5: From Cork to Ahakista 263km
6:40 Drombeg Stone Circle
7:08 Altar Wedge Tomb
7:30 Mizen Head
8:19 Barleycove
8:26 Sheap´s Head
9:14 Tullow
9:18 Ahakista
9:28 Day 6: From Ahakista to Valentia Island 340km
9:28 Glengarriff
9:43 Adrigole
9:46 Lamb´s Head and
9:53 Dursey Island (Cable Car)
10:48 Castletown-Bearhaven
11:01 Healy Pass
11:33 O´Carrols Beach
11:36 Scariff Island view Point
11:39 Beenarourke
11:43 Ballinskelligs Castle
11:50 Glen Church and graveyard
12:32 Valentia Island view
12:36 Kerry Cliffs
13:11 Portmagee
13:18 Day 7: From Valentia Island to Dingle 204km
13:18 Knightstown (Valentia Island)
13:34 Lighthouse
13:38 Ballycarbery Castle
14:38 Muckross House
14:58 Torc Waterfall
15:29 Inch Beach
15:46 Road to Dingle
16:11 Minard Castle
16:24 Dingle
17:06 Day 8: From Dingle to Limerick 243km
17:06 Slea Head
17:29 Dunquin Harbour
17:54 Clogherhead
17:57 Conor Pass
18:05 Kilgobbin
18:25 Blennerville Windmill
18:22 Desmond Castle Adare
18:26 King John´s Castle
18:53 Mungret Church
19:32 Day 9: From Limerick to Ballyvaughan 308km
19:32 Bunratty Castle
19:43 Loop Head
20:08 Kilbaha
20:14 Cross
20:24 Moveen
20:29 Kilkee Cliffs
21:27 Kilkee
21:35 Spanish Point
21:42 Corkscrew Hill
21:49 Newtown Castle
22:04 Ballyvaughan
22:14 Gleninagh Castle
22:36 Doonagore Castle
22:43 Dough Castle
22:56 Cliffs of Moher
23:47 Day 10: Around Ballyvaughan (Burren) 145km
23:47 Corcomroe Abbey
24:33 Kilmacduagh monastery
25:07 Fahee North view Point (Burren)
25:17 Poulnabrone Dolmen
25:42 Black Head
25:46 Day 11: From Ballyvaughan to Leenaun 208km
25:46 Muckinish West Tower House
25:57 Quiet Man Bridge
26:07 Connemara National Park
26:35 Sky Road
27:09 Kylemore Abbey and Neo-gothic Church
28:06 Killary Fjord
28:45 Day 12: From Leenaun to Loughrea 212km
28:45 Sunrise in Partry
28:51 Rainbow in Ballinrobe
28:55 Ashford Castle
29:29 Guiness Tower
29:37 Cong Abbey
30:22 Fiary of Ross
31:36 Oranmore Castle
31:54 Kilchreest
32:08 Day 13: From Loughrea to Tullamore 162km
32:08 Clontuskert Abbey
32:20 Clonmacnoise
35:05 Birr Castle
35:36 Leep Castle
35:58 Kinnitty Castle
36:05 Tullamore Distillery
36:57 Tullamore
37:05 Day 14: From Tullamore to Dublin 124km
37:05 Trinity College (Book of Kells - Long Room)
37:25 Dublin
38:18 Day 15: Flight from Dublin to Vienna via Amsterdam 14km
38:35 End with some Facts and informations
38:44 Selfies and outtakes during the trip
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Toome Canal - Toomebridge, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
Toomebridge - and Toome Canal are in County Antrim, it was also a filming location for Game of Thrones. The canal leads off into Lough Neagh - which is the largest freshwater lake in Northern Ireland - it is also the largest lake by area in the British Isles with a surface area of 151 square miles. Due to this - it supplies 40% of Northern Ireland's water supply!
Lough Neagh is not just an attraction when it comes to the different places that one should visit in Northern Ireland, but it is also one of Game of Thrones shooting locations which are found in Northern Ireland that made the idea of travelling to Northern Ireland more common among GOT fans (
It is important to pay much attention to Lough Neagh because it is not just the largest freshwater lake in Northern Ireland and the largest lake by area in the British Isles, but it even carries a rank when it comes to the European Union since it is the 15th largest freshwater lake within the EU and is even ranked 31st in the list of largest lakes in Europe.
Lough Neagh is 20 miles away from Belfast which is not a huge distance for people to cross if they are coming to Belfast but will be thinking about heading to Lough Neagh. This lake is 20 miles long and 9 miles wide; it is very shallow around the margins and the average depth in the main body of the lake is about 30 feet.
The interesting thing to know about Lough Neagh is the fact that it actually shares shores with five of the six counties which are found in Northern Ireland, which are Antrim, Down, Armagh, Tyrone, and Londonderry; Fermanagh is the only county that does not share any shores with the lake.
In addition to ranking as the largest freshwater lake and appearing in Game of Thrones movie series, it is important to mention that from the things which are making this lake famous are the different uses which it helps with, such as being a water supply, a navigation point for boats, a place for bird watching especially for those who have an admiration for such a thing, and most importantly being one major industry for fishing for centuries.
Toome Canal in which Game of Thrones was filmed is definitely a good choice to go for when it comes to Lough Neagh because it could provide the person with a panoramic view over the lake and that is exactly how one will get the chance to enjoy the beauty of this place and receive some calmness of mind if that was the main reason behind visiting this place.
The view of the lake is always different, one gets to forget everything happening around and enjoy the calmness of the place and love what nature has to offer. In addition to Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland, there are actually different other lakes which could also be visited and checked for the views they have.
From the lakes which we visited before in Northern Ireland, there is Lough Carra in county Mayo, which is between Ballinrobe, Ballintubber, and Claremorris ( Lough Erne is another important option because it is the second biggest lake system in Northern Ireland and it is located in county Fermanagh ( In addition to these two different ones mentioned, there is also Lough Muckno that is located in county Monaghan in Ireland and which could also be another option for people to discover (
One of the best things about Ireland is the fact that it is the friend of nature; there are different parks, lakes, and places where green areas and water are taking over, giving visitors the chance to enjoy some time away from all the hassle of the city and at the same time give their kids the chance to play around and take their pets for a walk.
Toome Canal is a destination for those who are touring the country for the locations that are related to Game of Thrones movie and it is also a place for those who are trying to discover all the famous important destinations that one should head for when it comes to Northern Ireland - if you happen to be visiting the country but at the same time you are a fan of Game of Thrones then you have succeeded at choosing the best and the most right destination for yourself.
Have you ever been to Toome Canal and enjoyed Lough Neagh before? Then it is now the right time to head and check it. If you have already visited this place before then share your experience with us and tell us about the things you loved the most and those which you might recommend some solutions to solve.
Are you interested to know more facts about Lough Neagh in Northern ireland? Or the River Toome? Or more about Northern Ireland's Loughs - just let us now in the comments below. Hope you enjoy your visit around Antrim and Northern Ireland :-)
Some of the best locations around Ireland / Northern Ireland and further afield. A travel blog/vlog of the hidden treasures that are on our doorstep.