Lough Ramor facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lough Ramor Loch Ramhar
Location in island of Ireland
Location	County Cavan
Coordinates	53°49′N 7°5′W / 53.817°N 7.083°W / 53.817; -7.083
Type	Glacial
Primary inflows	River Blackwater
Primary outflows	River Blackwater
Catchment area	River Boyne
Basin countries	Ireland
Surface area	7.41 km2 (2.86 sq mi)
Average depth	3 m (9.8 ft)
Max. depth	5.5 m (18 ft)
Water volume	22,000 m3 (18 acre⋅ft)
Residence time	0.17 years

Lough Ramor (which in Irish is called Loch Ramhar) is a big natural lake. It covers about 741 hectares and is located near Virginia, County Cavan. Long ago, old writings called Vita Tripartita mentioned this lake. It was in an area known as Cenal Muinreamhair. The name Muinreamhair means 'fat-neck'. It might come from an ancient warrior, showing he was very strong. Lough Ramor is also mentioned in old books like the Annals of the Four Masters.

This lake is a special place for nature, called a Natural Heritage Area. It flows into the River Blackwater. This river is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). This means it is protected under a program called Natura 2000. This program helps protect wildlife and their homes.

Natural Environment and Wildlife

Lough Ramor is a wetland area with some woods. It is a safe place for many kinds of wildlife. Both animals that live there all the time and those that visit can be found. Old records show that nearly half of the 170 acres of Deerpark woodland was once oak trees. This wood was used for building and farming. In the 1600s, early settlers in Virginia had to bring their building wood from other places.

In the early 1800s, many trees were planted. These included ash, elm, oak, larch, spruce, and Scots pine. More recently, other broadleaf trees like sycamore were also planted.

Lake Features

A recent study by the Government Department of the Environment looked at the Lough Ramor area. It found that the lake sits in a hollow in the Silurian rock. This type of rock covers most of eastern County Cavan. Lough Ramor is a very shallow lake. Its water has a pH of 7.5, which is slightly alkaline. The deepest part is about six meters. The water does not have many nutrients. However, it sometimes gets richer, which can cause algae to grow a lot.

Because it is on a different type of rock, Lough Ramor looks different from other lakes in Cavan. Much of the shore has natural woodlands. These woods have alder, willows, and hazel trees. The trees near Virginia were planted by people.

Plants and Flowers

Hazel and hawthorn bushes grow widely in dry areas. You can also find bramble, false brome, and wood sedge. Flowers like violet, bluebell, wild hyacinth, and primrose grow here. On rocky shores, crab apple trees often grow with roses and dog violet.

In some places on the southern shore, these bushes turn into thicker woods. Here, you can find ash and oak trees with holly.

Birds and Animals

Many birds live in these wooded areas. These include treecreeper, long-tailed tit, chiffchaff, and willow warbler. You might also see blackcap, woodpigeon, sparrowhawk, jay, pheasant, and woodcock.

The islands in the lake are mostly covered by willow trees. In more open spots, black-headed gulls build their nests. Birds like mallard, teal, and red-breasted merganser also breed on the islands. Great crested grebes mostly use the lake's mainland shores.

Wetland Plants

Many freshwater marshes are found around the lake shore. However, large areas of reeds stretching into the lake are rare. The edges of the marshes are mostly covered by sedge plants. These include bottle sedge, bladder-sedge, tufted-sedge, common-sedge, and sometimes water-sedge. Water horsetail, marsh cinquefoil, and bur-reeds are also common.

In areas with less rich soil, you can find other plants. These include marsh ragwort, lesser spearwort, devil's-bit scabious, marsh-bedstraw, and hoary willowherb. Also present are creeping bent, sweet vernal-grass, Yorkshire fog, and purple moor-grass. Cuckooflower grows commonly. Bog violet and greater spearwort can be found in some places.

Parts of the shore with muddy or stony ground are home to special plants. These include bur marigold and the rare tasteless water-pepper and small water-pepper.

Important Bird Habitat

The lake is very important for certain birds. It supports a large number of great cormorants, usually around 200. Many whooper swans, wigeon, teal, mallard, grey heron, and lapwing also gather here. Curlew and lapwing also nest in the marshes around the lake.

The plants along the lake's edges are special. When combined with the many birds that spend winter here, they make Lough Ramor a very important wetland site.

Early Christian Settlements

Old writings mention early Christian settlements in the Lough Ramor area. The Martyrology of Donegal says that February 6th was a special day for Saints Brandubh and Coluim of Loch Muinreamhair. Other old Irish calendars have similar entries. It is thought that these saints lived soon after Christianity came to Ireland, around the 400s.

People believe that an island or a crannog (an old artificial island) was used as the first place for a church in Loch Muinreamhair. One such island still has remains of a medieval church. Its old name is not known. But since the early 1700s, it has been called Woodward's Island. This name comes from a well-known family from Kells, County Meath who built a house on the island.

The medieval island church belonged to the Augustinian Abbey of St. Mary's in Ceannannus (Kells). This was an Anglo-Norman church group. It was different from the older Columban Abbey of Ceannannus, which was started by Saint Columcille. There was a local story that some early monks on the island were killed by thieves. These thieves had robbed the church. The Augustinians likely took over the site in the 1200s. This happened after the church area boundaries changed to include the new Kilmore diocese.

Saints Brandubh and Coluin are not mentioned in the Annals of the Four Masters. However, a king of Leinster named Brandubh (meaning Black Raven) is mentioned. He died in the year 601.

A strong group of people called the Luigni and Gailanga ruled the Blackwater and Ramor regions. It is thought that Saint Patrick sent missionaries to this area. Saints Brandubh and Coluin might have been these early missionaries.

Ancient Civilisations

There is proof that people lived in the Lough Ramor area a very long time ago. This goes back to about 2000 BC. There was once a Neolithic dolmen, which is an ancient burial site, in a place called Ballaghanea. Other stone markings from the Bronze Age have been found in Munterconnacht.

The island church site, mentioned earlier, became important around 845 AD. At that time, the Four Masters described the area of the Luigni of Sliabh Guire. The Luigni were a strong tribe who came from the west coast. They settled here in the 200s. They were part of a line of 'buffer states'. These states helped protect the borders of the kingdom of Tara. Many old ring forts, called raths and lios, can be found in the region.

Maelseachlainn, who was the King of Meath, led an attack in 845 AD. He wanted to get rid of a group of raiders. These raiders had made a strong base on the island. The old writings describe what happened:

"The island of Loch Muinreamhair was destroyed by Maelseachlainn. He attacked a group of 'sons of death' from the Luigni and Gailenga. They were robbing the areas because of the foreigners (Norsemen). And he destroyed them."

A similar event is mentioned in the Annals of Ulster for the year 846. Local stories say that the robbers fought among themselves over their stolen goods. This might be an old memory of fierce battles that happened on a small hill. This hill is known locally as Cnoc Fola, which means 'the hill of blood'.

Connections

The Virginia GAA team is called Ramor United. It is named after the lake. A local theatre is also named after Lough Ramor.