Lough Corrib (Corrib Lake)

 lake  Add category

Lough Corrib (Loch Coirib in Irish) is a lake in the west of Ireland. The River Corrib/Galway river connects the lake to the sea at Galway. It is the largest loch in the Republic of Ireland and the second largest in the island of Ireland after Lough Neagh and it covers some 200 sq km. Loch Coirib is a corruption of Loch nOirbsean, which according to placename lore is named after the Danann navigator Orbsen Mac Alloid (commonly called Manannán Mac Lir, "The Son of the Sea," for whom the Isle of Man is named.) In Irish the loch is also called An Choirib ("the Corrib").

The lough may be divided geologically and ecologically into two distinct basins: a relatively shallow southerly basin, underlain by porous Carboniferous limestone and a larger, deeper northern basin, underlain by more acidic granites, schists, shales and sandstones. The lough is of major conservation importance and includes 14 habitats listed on Annex I of the E.U. Habitats Directive: www.npws.ie/en/SAC/000297/ .