Overview
Lough Derravaragh is the lake where, in the legend of the Children of Lír, four royal children were turned into swans and spent three hundred years on the water before moving on to the Sea of Moyle and the open Atlantic. Swans still gather here, and the story stays close to the surface: a sculpture on the green in Castlepollard marks it, a few kilometres up the road.
The lake lies north of Mullingar, held between Castlepollard, Crookedwood and Multyfarnham in County Westmeath. Its Irish name, Loch Dairbhreach, means ‘lake of oaks’, for the old woodland along the shore. It runs roughly 10 km long and 4 km wide, covers 9.14 km² and reaches 23 m at its deepest, fed and drained by the River Inny. It is a protected Special Protection Area for its waterbirds.
Confirm access, boat hire and fishing permits before you travel, and keep to signed access around the shore.
History and legend
The hills around the lake have been settled for a very long time. Ringforts cluster on the eastern rise at Ranaghan, and local tradition puts the ninth-century Viking chieftain Turgesius in strongholds nearby. On the Kiltoom shoreline, artificial crannóg islands once made safe, defensible homes out on the water, and a Stone Age dug-out canoe pulled from the lakebed in the 1970s shows people were navigating here millennia ago. On the east bank stand the remains of Mortimer’s Castle, an Anglo-Norman work from the centuries after the invasion.
The legend is the thing people carry away, though. A jealous stepmother turns Lír’s four children into swans and condemns them to three hundred years on Derravaragh, three hundred more on the Sea of Moyle and a final three hundred in the west. It has fixed the lake in Irish memory, and it is why the swans on the water always seem to be doing more than floating.
Knockeyon, the hill on the south-eastern shore, carries its own tradition. The ruins of Saint Cauragh’s chapel and a holy well are said to lie on it, and tradition holds that Cauragh, having left the monastery at Kells, took refuge there and found the spring that kept her. This page gives no route up the hill, so don’t cross fields to reach it; find out about access first.
Watching waterbirds
The National Parks and Wildlife Service lists whooper swan, pochard, tufted duck and coot among the birds protected at this Special Protection Area. Mute swans, the swans of the legend, are the ones most visitors notice. Bring binoculars and move quietly, and give birds space around reed beds and shore margins. Use signed access and keep clear of soft ground, where the footing near the reeds and bog edges is both fragile and treacherous.
Fishing and boats
Inland Fisheries Ireland lists Lough Derravaragh in its Midland Fisheries Group. Buy the fishery permit before fishing and check current seasons, methods and limits for the fish you intend to target. The lake is known for wild brown trout and pike, and its hard, limy water is part of why the fish do well.
At Donore, the boat hire listing gives contact details. Check availability, weather and launch arrangements before going out, and wear a lifejacket on the water.
Walking nearby
For a separate woodland visit, see Mullaghmeen, known for its planted beech woods, and check access there before you go.
Practical information
There is no charge to look at the lake from public places, but boat hire and fishing are separate, so check the listings above for current details. Confirm opening, parking and any seasonal arrangements with the operator at Donore before you set out, because they can change.
For the biggest bird numbers, come in winter, when the wildfowl are in. For the still water and the mute swans of the legend, come early on a calm morning. Fore Abbey, Belvedere House & Gardens and Lough Ennell are all a short drive away.