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. Since 1996 it has been a Ramsar wetland, and it forms part of the Lough Derravaragh Natural Heritage Area.
If you’ve only an hour, climb Knockeyon on the south-eastern shore for the long view down the lake. With less time than that, the shore at Donore is where you get closest to the water and the swans.
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, about 4.4 km south-west of Castlepollard, 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.
Fishing and boats
A small boat-hire runs at Donore, near Multyfarnham, on the shore just off the N4 and about four kilometres from the village. It puts out fibreglass lake boats with outboard engines, lifejackets and fuel, and the same site has a caravan park, a café and a mini-golf course. Pike and wild brown trout are what most anglers come for – both are caught to specimen size – with bream, roach and perch in the mix. The brown trout season generally runs from spring into October, and you’ll need a valid Irish angling licence; check the current dates before you travel, as they change. The lake’s hard, limy water keeps the fish feeding, and early mornings and overcast days tend to be the most productive.
When the wind drops, the broad, shallow surface suits canoes, paddleboards and small dinghies, and the sheltered bays make it a forgiving place to learn.
Wildlife
A Ramsar wetland since 1996 and part of the Lough Derravaragh Natural Heritage Area, the lake matters most in winter, when it holds nationally important numbers of Greenland white-fronted geese and whooper swans. Tufted ducks, mute swans, little grebes, coots and lapwings are all regular, otters work the margins, and the Irish hare turns up on the surrounding fields. The mineral-rich shallows even support a rare stonewort, Chara denundata. Bring binoculars and move quietly, and keep to marked paths near the reed beds and bog edges, where the ground is both fragile and treacherous.
Walking: Knockeyon and Donore
Knockeyon rises to 215 m on the south-eastern shore and gives the best vantage over the whole lake. The path up is steep and uneven in places, so wear proper footwear, but at the top you reach the ruins of Saint Cauragh’s chapel and a holy well. Tradition holds that Cauragh, having left the monastery at Kells, took refuge on the hill and found the spring that kept her there.
For something gentler, the Donore Woodland Walk at the north-western end is a family circuit with a fairy garden, little bridges and thick tree cover, and the waymarked Lough Derravaragh Walk (about 1 km) follows the shore for a quick leg-stretch after a paddle or a session on the bank. Longer routes are within reach: both the Old Rail Trail Greenway and the Royal Canal Greenway are inside 10 km, and hill-walkers can head east to Mullaghmeen, known for its planted beech woods and the county’s high point.
Practical information
The lake is signposted off the N4 near Multyfarnham for the Donore boat-hire and caravan park, where the parking is free and first-come, first-served. There’s no charge for the lake, the walks or the birdwatching, and it’s open year-round.
Bus Éireann runs between Mullingar and Castlepollard, with the nearest stop at Multyfarnham, though weekend services are thin – a car is the easier option. For an overnight, Derravaragh Holiday Park at Donore has caravan pitches, a café and mini-golf (+353 44 93 71500), and the Castle Varagh Hotel in Castlepollard puts you near the northern shore. Fore Abbey, Belvedere House & Gardens and Lough Ennell are all a short drive.
For the biggest bird numbers, come in winter, when the geese and whooper swans are in. For the still water and the mute swans of the legend, come early on a calm morning – and note that the café and boat-hire at Donore only open through spring and summer, so out of season it’s just you, the lake and the birds.