Overview
Broad Lough is a shallow, partly tidal lagoon at the southern end of the Murrough Special Protection Area, just north of Wicklow town in County Wicklow. The shingle ridge carrying the railway separates the wetland from the Irish Sea. Reeds fringe the western shore and salt marsh lines the margins, with dunes, marram and coastal meadow on the seaward side of the ridge.
There are no boardwalks and no facilities at the water itself. That is the point of it: people come for a quiet stretch of coast and for the birds, not for swimming or tours. Watch from public ground and give the lagoon margins space.
History & landscape
The name is plain enough: broad and lough, for a wide, shallow sheet of water. The lagoon is overlooked by Tinakilly House, the Victorian mansion built between 1876 and 1883 for Captain Robert Halpin, the Wicklow man who, as commander of the Great Eastern, laid much of the first transatlantic telegraph cable joining Europe to America. The house sits in its own gardens at the top of an oak-lined avenue above the water, and is a private hotel rather than a public viewpoint. The lagoon is valued locally for its birdlife and appears in the County Development Plan as the Broadlough Estuary.
What to see and do
The walk – For a walk, start at the public Murrough amenity area in Wicklow town and keep to the open public paths by the seafront. The Wicklow Mountains rise inland beyond the water. Keep off the reed beds and mudflats, and never cross the railway away from a designated crossing.
Birdwatching – This is the main reason to come. The protected area supports waterbirds including teal, wigeon and Brent geese. Other birds, such as little grebes, kingfishers and little egrets, are also reported around the lagoon, and waders probe the mud when the tide is out. Bring binoculars for views from public ground, give feeding or roosting birds room, and keep well back from the reed beds in the March–August nesting season. Early morning or late afternoon gives the calmer light.
Flora and fauna
The mix of fresh and salt water supports a wider range of invertebrates than either pure freshwater or the open sea, and that is what keeps the birds fed. Common reed (Phragmites australis) dominates the deeper edges, giving way to sea rush and thrift on the drier, salt-sprayed banks; in early summer sea campion and bird’s-foot trefoil colour the dune grass. Sandpipers, curlews and dunlin work the exposed mud, gulls and cormorants are constant, and terns arrive for the summer.
Practical information
- Access: start from the public Murrough amenity area in Wicklow town. There is no ticket office or visitor centre at the lagoon, and the margins are not a place to wander; keep to public paths.
- Getting there by rail: Wicklow town is the nearest station, with services to and from Dublin. Check current timetables before you travel, and never cross the line except at a designated crossing.
- Parking: there is no dedicated car park at the lagoon. Tinakilly House is a working hotel, so do not assume you can park there. Use public parking in Wicklow town.
- Facilities: none at the lagoon itself. See the council’s page for what the public amenity area offers.
- Tides: the tide changes what the birds are doing. Check tide tables if you hope to see waders feeding on the mud.
- Etiquette: take litter home, keep dogs under close control and away from the reed beds and shoreline, and stay off the salt marsh.
Nearby attractions
- Brittas Bay – A wide sandy beach to the south, with a dune nature reserve behind it.
- Ashford – A village just inland, the gateway to Mount Usher Gardens, a Robinsonian-style riverside garden.
- Arklow Maritime Museum – Further down the coast in Arklow’s old harbour, covering the town’s fishing and shipbuilding past.
Come with binoculars and an hour to spare, and let the birds come to you: the lagoon rewards sitting still far more than covering ground.