Apr 28

Apr 28 Turlough Love

A turlough is a vanishing lake found most commonly in the limestone lowlands of mid-west Ireland. The name derives from the Irish tur meaning ‘dry’, and the suffix lach, meaning ‘a place’. .

The turlough near our home in Mayo is situated to the north-west of Shrule. It is a magnetic spot, and never fails to surprise. What birds will I see? Will the water be calm or rocky? Will the air be clear enough to admire the hills beyond? Here are a few photographs of the turlough I have taken at random since we arrived last September. Together they show just a little of its greatly changeable character.

I have since read that Shrule Turlough is a conservation area of exceptional interest. Although turloughs are by nature nutrient-poor and unfavourable to plant and animal life, Shrule Turlough has a greater diversity of living creatures than most. You may find nesting waders, the odd family of stickleback, and an army of small crustaceans. It is also home to native plants such as Black Bog-rush, Whorled Water Milfoil, Least Bur-reed, Creeping Yellow Cress and carnivorous Greater Bladderwort. I’ve enjoyed watching swans and heavy white bellied geese take flight above it, and my daughters as well, found paddling at its edges.