List of loughs of Ireland
This is an alphabetical list of loughs on the island of Ireland. It also shows a table of the largest loughs. The word lough is pronounced like loch and comes from the Irish loch, meaning 'lake'.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, there are an estimated 12,000 lakes in the Republic of Ireland, covering an area of more than 1,200 square kilometres. The largest lough, by area, in Ireland is Lough Neagh. Lough Corrib is the second largest, and is the largest in the Republic. The largest lough, by water volume, is Lough Neagh, with Lough Mask being the largest by volume in the Republic.
The list below contains only those loughs that are of geographic, geological, or historical importance and almost all of them are over a square kilometre in area. It includes loughs that are in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Those partly or wholly within Northern Ireland are marked with an asterisk.
Largest Irish lakes
The largest freshwater loughs in Ireland are:| Rank | Lake | Area km2 | Mean Depth m | Max Depth m | Volume ×106m3 | Shoreline km | County/Counties |
| 1 | Lough Neagh* | Antrim, Down, Armagh, Tyrone, Londonderry | |||||
| 2 | Lough Corrib | Galway and Mayo | |||||
| 3 | Lough Derg (Shannon) | Tipperary, Clare and Galway | |||||
| 4 | Lower Lough Erne* | Fermanagh | |||||
| 5 | Lough Ree | Roscommon, Longford and Westmeath | |||||
| 6 | Lough Mask | Mayo and Galway | |||||
| 7 | Lough Conn | Mayo | |||||
| 8 | Lough Allen | Leitrim and Roscommon | |||||
| 9 | Upper Lough Erne* | Fermanagh | |||||
| 10 | Lough Melvin* | Fermanagh and Leitrim | |||||
| 11 | Lough Leane | Kerry | |||||
| 12 | Poulaphouca Reservoir | Wicklow | |||||
| 13 | Lough Sheelin | Westmeath, Cavan, Meath | |||||
| 14 | Lough Carra | County Mayo |
Muckross Lake is the deepest Irish lake, with a maximum depth of 75 metres.
Freshwater lakes
Lakes with the county/counties where they are situated and their area in square kilometres. Most of the Republic of Ireland lake areas are taken from the Environmental Protection Agency's A Reference based Typology and Ecological Assessment System for Irish LakesBrackish loughs
An example of a brackish lagoon is Lady's Island Lake, County WexfordTurloughs
- Loughareema, County Antrim*
- Glenamaddy Turlough, County Galway
- Levally Lough, County Galway
- Rahasane Turlough, County Galway
- Shannon Pot, County Cavan
Reservoirs
- Poulaphouca Reservoir, County Wicklow
- Silent Valley Reservoir, County Down*
- Spelga Reservoir, County Down*
- Vartry Reservoir, County Wicklow
Sea loughs
- Belfast Lough, between County Antrim and County Down*
- Strangford Lough, County Down*
- Lough Foyle, between County Donegal and County Londonderry*
- Galway Bay, County Galway
- Lough Hyne, County Cork
- Larne Lough, County Antrim*
- Lough Mahon, County Cork
- Shannon Estuary, Munster
- Tralee Bay, County Kerry
- Waterford Harbour, County Waterford
- Wexford Harbour, County Wexford
Fjords
- Carlingford Lough, between County Louth and County Down*
- Lough Swilly, County Donegal
- Killary Harbour, between County Mayo & County Galway