Lough Foyle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lough Foyle (Loch Feabhail in Irish) is the name given to the estuary of the River Foyle. It starts where the Foyle leaves Derry. It separates the Inishowen peninsula from Northern Ireland.
There is a saying, that when one is on a boat on Lough Foyle, one is at the only place in the world where north is south, and south is north. (The Republic of Ireland, even Donegal, is referred to as "The South" in Northern Ireland, while "The North" is a common term for Northern Ireland).
[edit] Transport
- In the summer time, a ferry service operates between County Donegal and County Londonderry over Lough Foyle.
- The Broharris Canal was constructed in the 1820s when a cut, some 2 miles long on the south shore of Lough Foyle near Ballykelly was made in the direction of Limavady. It served both as a drainage channel and a navigation with goods being brought from the port of Derry, and shellfish and kelp from the sand banks along the shore.
- In 1792 the four mile Strabane Canal was constructed from the tidal waters of Lough Foyle at Leck, to Strabane. The canal fell into disuse in 1962. In June 2006 the Strabane Lifford Development Commission awarded a £1.3m cross-border waterways restoration contract. The project involves the restoration of one and a half miles of canal and two locks to working order. Work is due to start on the Lough Foyle side of the canal in the summer of 2006.
[edit] References
- Belfast Telegraph, 26 June 2006
