Area · Co. Leitrim
Lough Allen
The uppermost of the three great lakes on the Shannon: a long, narrow water in north Leitrim fringed by the Iron Mountains, with Arigna Forest Park on its shore and a full weekend of boating, walks and fishing.
The lough
Keshcarrigan Lough (Irish: Ceis Charraigín — “the lake near the little rock, kesh”) is a small, shallow lake in south County Leitrim, just south of the village of Keshcarrigan. It covers 0.39 square kilometres, is no deeper than four metres, and holds a single island; it sits at the same level as the larger Lough Scur to the north, with a channel about four hundred metres long joining the two. The village stands under Sheebeg hill, an ancient burial site that overlooks Lough Scur to the north and Keshcarrigan Lough to the south.
The village
Keshcarrigan is a small place (a little over 150 people) on the Shannon–Erne Waterway, and it has a history to be proud of. In 1798 General Humbert’s French army passed through on its way to the defeat at Ballinamuck. A Bronze Age bowl found here in 1854 is in the National Museum of Ireland; the mediaeval ruins of Castle John and Jail Island stand at Lough Scur; and the novelist John McGahern, who lived nearby, set parts of his work in this country. The village is also known for its alternative St Patrick’s Day parades — an invisible parade, a parade inside a pub, and a parade walked backwards are all on the record.
What to do
Bank fishing is the traditional thing on the lough — there are concrete stands on the northern shore, two of them wheelchair accessible. The Shannon–Erne Waterway has a mooring and put-in at the village, so the lough works as a rest stop on a longer Blueway passage. The shore and the hills above are a day’s walking in themselves.