Turlough

A turlough is a lake that dries up in the summer.

The turlough in Glenamaddy is where Glenamaddy got its name:

Gleann meaning valley and Madagh meaning dog (madra). Therefore meaning "The Valley of the Dogs". It can also be interpreted as "Valley of the Black Plain" because when the lake dries up in summer all that remains is the dried up black basin.

Possibly Glenamaddy’s most picturesque landscape, the Turlough locally known as the lake is mainly fed by Lough Lurgeen some distance away, it acts as a reservoir for an underground system that rises at Leitra where the Sinking River commences.

Once described as the "Salthill of Glenamaddy" the lake has breached out onto the adjoining roadway many times over the century. In the early years much hardship was experienced when travellers used a passage made in the fields on the opposite side. To remedy a re-occurence. The road was raised and a concrete wall built. In 1930, this work proved inadequate when ten to fifeen yards of the road was practically washed away.

The lake waters claimed the roadway again in the 1950s when the then Galway-Roscommon bus detoured via Keelogues. After its emergence in 1989, a strong stone was erected replacing the concrete one.

The Turlough road is now raised a metre and a half above the lake at its highest point and this has kept the flooding at bay for the past 5 years. The new graveyard is situated on the North side of the lake and has a commanding view of the lake.

A winter view of the Turlough.