Barrington and Yowell — Flora of Shores of Lough Hee. 693 



XLIII. ErEPOET ON THE FlOEA OF THE ShOEES OF LoTJGH EeE. By 



EicHAED M. Babkington, M.A., LL.B., F.L.S., and Riohaed P. 



YoWELL. 



[Read, February 28, 1887.] 



LoxTGH Bee is situated almost in the centre of Ireland. Eoscommon 

 forms the west or Connaught shore, "Westmeath and Longford the 

 east or Leinster shore. It is, in reality, only an expansion of the 

 Biver Shannon. The lake proper begins about a mile and a-half from 

 the town of Athlone, and extends almost due north for a distance of 

 seventeen and a-half miles to the village of Lanesborough, varying in. 

 width from a little over five and a-half miles to about a mile. Its 

 height over sea-level is 122 feet in summer, and 129 in winter. The 

 area of the entire lake is about 42 square miles, and, for its size, 

 it is one of the shallowest in Ireland. In two places only it reaches 

 a depth of 112 feet; but these are merely holes, the average depth 

 being from 20 to 25 feet. The navigation of the lake is dangerous 

 for yachts, owing to the great number of shallows ; and in bad weather 

 an open boat is apt to get swamped, as the waves, though seldom rising 

 to any height, are short and broken. The surrounding district, which 

 forms part of the great central plain of Ireland, is entirely limestone j 

 and the rocks and loose stones on the shore of the lake are all thickly 

 coated with what would seem to be a calcareous sinter precipitated 

 from the waters of the lake. The islands are very numerous, and 

 vary in size from a few yards to about two and a-half miles in 

 circumference. Some of them at the southern end are well wooded, 

 especially that of Hare Island ; but the general character of the scenery 

 is cold and bleak. The form of the lake is extremely irregular, more 

 particularly on the Leinster side, where some of the inlets are very 

 large, forming almost separate lakes of considerable extent. These 

 irregularities increase enormously the shore line, which probably 

 measures about 140 miles, although the length of the lake is 

 only 17^ miles. The immediate neighbourhood is mostly low-lying 

 ground, composed of marshy meadows, many of which are underwater 

 the greater part of the winter. In a few sheltered bays the shore is 

 richly wooded, and handsome residences, many of which are now 

 deserted and rapidly falling into ruin, are to be met with all round 

 the lake. The River Inny empties itself into Lough Bee at the junc- 

 tion of the counties of Longford and Westmeath, and is the main 

 outlet for the numerous lakes of the latter county. If we except 

 Slieve-Bawn, or Bann, in Roscommon, at a distance of about five miles 

 from Lanesborough, which only rises to the height of 839 feet, 

 there are no mountains visible from any part of the lake. None of 

 the localities given, excepting along the River Inny as far as Bally- 



R.I.A. PKOC, SEE. II., VOL. IT. — SCIEXCE. 3 M 



