Penny McCormick asks six women about their favourite lakes …
Main Image; Lake Como, Italy
LAKE INCHAQUIN, CO KERRY
Christina Foley, founder of the Inish Living wellness brand.
I live with my family in Tuosist, a long spectacular parish stretching out along the Beara Peninsula. As a family, we have a great affinity for the sea. We also love lakes, my favourite being Inchaquin Lake. There is an ancient oak woodland called Uragh at Inchaquin which towers steeply over the lake, and on a calm day is reflected on the still, fresh water, as in a mirror. Nearby, Glenmore and Cloonee are also stunning. As a physiotherapist, I believe in the restorative impact nature and our environment has on our physical and mental wellbeing. Lakes can provide a place to breathe and nourish the body while boosting vitamin D and hormone levels for enhanced sleep and cognitive function.
LOUGH ERNE , CO FERMANAGH
Gwen Wilkinson, Author, The Waters and The Wild.
In 2019, I set myself the challenge of building a canoe and paddling it the length of Ireland via a network of rivers, loughs and canals. My voyage began in Co Fermanagh, on the River Erne, where it occupies the landscape in the form of two large lakes, Upper and Lower Lough Erne. For me, exploring these watery worlds was like tumbling through a portal into Ireland’s ancient past. Following the Lough Erne Canoe Trail, I paddled to the shores of Boa and White Island with its enigmatic Celtic stone carvings. The tall round tower on Devenish Island heralded my arrival to the ancient pilgrimage site. Striking out along the Upper Lough, I stayed overnight at beautiful Belle Isle Castle, a private island retreat. On Trannish, I realised a long-held fantasy of being a castaway on a deserted island. Stopping off at the island of Govindadvipa, I left offerings at the Hare Krishna shrine and paddled on to explore the lonely Crichton Tower, a famine folly on Gad Island. This long, meandering voyage inspired my book The Waters and the Wild, which was published this summer. Down by the water’s edge, wind whispers through the reeds and rustles up ancient histories. Lakes are enchanting places steeped in wondrous tales with mysterious islands begging to be explored. On Lough Ree, the notorious Queen Maeve retired to Inchclearaun, where she built herself a palace and walled garden. Many are lured to the island in search of Grianán Maeva, “Maeve’s sunny place”. Setting out across the glittering waters of Lough Ennell, you might find your way to Lilliput Harbour and experience the vista that inspired Jonathan Swift’s epic tale Gulliver’s Travels. Lough Key is a dreamy lake, sheltered by mature woodland. Layers of history have accumulated on its numerous secluded islands – cloistered and castellated ruins, all now slowly sinking back into the earth. These arcadian waterscapes are brimful of wildlife. Rare breeding birds such as lapwing, little egret, and whooper swan find a refuge on these watery margins. Great crested grebes thrive in the habitat of slow-moving waters. Dragon and damselfies dazzle with their iridescent hues. Concealed in these wetland habitats is a treasure trove of lush and varied flora – orchids, angelica and yellow flag irises. From July, the islands of Loughs Derg and Ree are abloom with nodding harebells. The pale-blue faces of water forget-me-nots smile up from their semi-submerged habitat. Sorrel, water mint, yellow cress and other wetland herbs form a magical carpet, thriving both underwater and in open air. A hired cruise boat is the most popular way for families and groups to explore the idyllic loughs of the Shannon and the Erne. Shallow draft vessels, such as dinghies, canoes and SUPs have the advantage of being able to access secluded shores and launch on smaller landlocked lakes. Whether you wild camp on a deserted island, drift in the company of restless lapwings or linger shoreside, Ireland’s lakes will transport you to another time and place.
LAKE COMO, ITALY
Margaret Ryan, Marketing and PR consultant, the Park Hotel Kenmare.
Varenna is a gorgeous medieval fishing village on the eastern shores of Lake Como. It is not as well-known as many of the other towns like Bellagio but that is all part of its charm. Easy to access, it’s an hour from Milan by train; you don’t need a car as the wonderful ferry service takes you everywhere. It is home to elegant villas, botanical gardens (Villa Monastero) and the most amazing hikes and walks on the Seniero del Viandante. But for me, Varenna is all about the food as it is home to wonderful restaurants. We usually stay in the Royal Victoria hotel in the heart of the village. Al Prato, Ristorante Du Lac, Hosteria del Platano, La Vista and Quattro Passi are favourite family-owned restaurants offering seasonal, local food and a great welcome. After dinner, locals and visitors gather at the local bar 27metriquadri, whose owners Danni and Marco are the heart of the community. I return regularly to this quaint little place because of its lakeside beauty and the fact it has retained its Italian character.
LAC LEMAN, SWITZERLAND
Eva Berg, founder of The Secret Pilates.
In the early 1980s I boarded at the all-girls school St George’s in Montreux on the sparkling shores of Lac Leman, or Lake Geneva. Having moved from the dusty, chaotic hustle and bustle of the Middle East, I truly fell in love with this serene, pretty little town and the enormous mirror-like glacial lake. St George’s was strict, academic and very sports-orientated. In the winter terms, we were bussed up to Villars or Verbier to ski most weekends, and in the summer term if there were no hikes or excursions planned, we were allowed into Montreux or Lausanne to shop and have coffee. On these rare free Saturday afternoons, I loved walking the lake promenade down to Château de Chillon, where the poet Lord Byron and author Mary Shelley stayed (and which was the inspiration for Shelley’s Frankenstein). As summer approached, we would take our togs and hop into the chilly lake for a swim. Lake water is very different from salty sea water – it feels lighter and fresher and you are not as buoyant. Our favourite bathing spot was the little stony beach beside Château de Chillon. Montreux is also famous for the annual jazz festival in July, and in my final year, when A-levels were over, I stayed on in the town for this flamboyant celebration of jazz and blues. It was at this festival I was introduced to the music of Curtis Mayfield, Joe Cocker and BB King, which I still love to this day. When the festival ended, I hopped on a shiny Swiss train to Amsterdam with a New York cellist called Rick and spent six weeks in Amsterdam … but that’s another travel story!
URLAUR LAKE, CO MAYO
Jo Anne Butler, Creative Director, Superfolk.
If I needed to explain to someone what a “thin place” felt like, I would ask them to swim out into the middle of Urlaur Lake on a still, summer’s evening. I would tell them to float on their back, wiggle their toes in the water and drink in this place. I would point out the old abbey on the shoreline and the sun reflecting on the water’s surface. I would then direct them to listen … to the silence and to the sounds drifting across the lake, the water gently lapping the old pier, the birds overhead, the cows many fields away and the teenagers playing music on the old abbey roof, overlooking the tumbled old headstones. I would remind them to breathe deeply and tell them to watch the fallen leaves sail by. The term “thin place” describes places where the veil between this world and the next is most porous. “They are places that make us feel something larger than ourselves,” writes Kerri Ní Dochertaigh, “as though we are held in a place between worlds, beyond experience.” I feel the gentleness of lakes hides their specialness. As a child, I swam with my father in Urlaur Lake in Mayo. More recently, we bought an old stone house along the shore of Lough Carra. Along with Lough Mask and Lough Corrib, Lough Carra is part of the Great Western Lakes complex, a shallow marl lake with turquoise-clear waters fringed with wetlands and limestone pavements and orchid-rich grasslands. On a calm day the surface becomes a mirror – reflecting the sky, the surroundings. Beside you float insects and leaves. Swimming in lakes feels like being truly immersed in the quiet richness of these special places.
JOHNSTOWN CASTLE, CO WEXFORD
Sheila Forsey, Author, The Lake House at Lenashee.
It was late October, and I was on a tour of the Johnstown Castle Estate and Gardens in my home county of Wexford. I had the seeds for the plot of a novel in my head and had taken a tour of the neo-gothic castle searching for something that could help me to build on it. I knew the plot involved a house, a very grand house, with a dark secretive past. But there had to be something else about the house that the characters could never forget. That was what I was searching for. Our group followed the guide up the grand staircase and went into an ornate library. I walked towards the window where the view of a lake took my breath away. The light was beginning to dim in the sky and a mist seemed to be drifting in, throwing silver and violet shadows over the water. The towers and turrets of the castle cast shadows that shimmered in the water and the whole picture was like something out of a gothic fairytale. The tour guide then mentioned a graveyard near a path which led from the lake – which would become another layer of my novel’s plot. After the tour, I walked around the lake, which was developed by the Grogan family in the 19th century, part of their grand vision for the estate. Around the lake there are follies, a fishing tower and seven statues. I sat beside the lake, watching moorhens, swans, and goldfinches. Then as the mist shifted, there among the rushes was a grey heron. More visits to this lake followed and my novel began to take shape. One of my characters never left her bedroom, but each day she sat at the window captivated by the lake. But in contrast to the charming lake that had inspired me, the lake in my novel has deeper depths of darkness to it.