Area · Co. Sligo
The lake west of Sligo town, with Benbulbin on its north shore and the island of Innisfree — the one from Yeats’s “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” — in the middle of the water.
Lough Gill is the lake of what is called Yeats country, west of Sligo town. It is a long, narrow water, with the flat-topped Benbulbin massif on the north shore, and its name is bound to the poetry: the Innisfree of “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” is a small island in the middle of the lough, and the poem’s nine bean-rows and the bee-bells of the lake are here, on this water. The lake is the kind of place the poem describes — quiet, green, half-enclosed — and on a still morning, with the mountain reflected in the water, it is hard to think of anywhere else in Ireland that matches its own description so exactly.
The classic thing is to walk the shore: a loop around the lough takes you past the forest on the west shore, the open water where the mountain is reflected, and the small settlements on the east. Boating is the other half: the water is sheltered and calm, and a slow afternoon on the lake, with the mountain ahead and the forest behind, is the best use of a Sligo day.
The lough runs about 8 km (5 miles) long and 2 km (1 mile) wide — long enough that the far shore changes character as you go. The Bonet River flows into its eastern end, and the River Garavogue drains it westward towards Sligo town. The wooded hills of Slieve Killery and Slieve Daean dominate the south shore, and the lake is part of the Lough Gill Special Area of Conservation, noted for rare plant and animal species — which is another reason to keep to the shore paths.
Where to stay
A base within fifteen minutes of the water makes the reflection a morning ritual rather than a once-in-a-luck thing.
See current availability for your dates. Availability and prices come from the accommodation provider, not from us.
A headland on the north coast of Sligo Bay and one of the best-known surf spots in Ireland — a place we describe here without a precise map, because the headland and its dunes are fragile and the land is not all public.