You Think You Know Lough Neagh? Quiz

Answer: Coney Island

Lying just over half a mile (1km) from the County Armagh shore, Coney Island is mostly wooded with a 16th-century stone tower used by Shane Ó Neill. Occupation of the island has been sporadic in the intervening centuries and at one stage the island was connected to the mainland by a causeway. Breached in the 19th century, the causeway is known locally as Saint Patrick's Road and can be seen during the summer months when it is under less than two feet of water.

The island has belonged to the National Trust since 1946.

Answer: Has an abundance of nutrients that support a dense growth of algae.

With six major rivers flowing into Lough Neagh, and only one out, the lough is supplied with an abundance of nutrients that support a dense growth of algae.

Few dissolved nutrients and a sparse growth of algae = Oligotrophic lakes.
Formed by movements of the Earth's crust = Tectonic lakes.
Formed by glaciers = Glacial lakes.

Answer: Grand Canal

In the 19th century Lough Neagh was the hub in an island-wide canal transport system. The Lagan Canal linked Lough Neagh to the sea at Belfast and the Newry Canal linked it to the sea at Carlingford lough. The Ulster Canal provided a navigable inland route via the Erne Basin to the River Shannon, thus on to Limerick. The Lower Bann was/is also navigable to Coleraine, a flourishing port at the time.

The Grand and Royal Canals linked Dublin to the system via the River Shannon but had/have no direct connection to Lough Neagh.

Answer: Coal

In the early 18th century Dublin was importing up to 70,000 tons of coal from England. Ireland had some coal with one of the few viable mining areas being near Coalisland close to the shores of Lough Neagh in County Tyrone. However transport costs made it uneconomical until the construction of the Newry Ship Canal (opened 1769) and the Coalisland Canal (opened 1787).

Answer: 40%

The lough supplies 40% of the region's drinking water. There are plans to increase the amount of water drawn from the lough via a new water treatment works at Hog Park Point in County Antrim.

Answer: Sand dredging

Sand has been dredged from the bed of the lough since the 1930s and supplies nearly a quarter of Northern Ireland's construction needs. However the dredging operation has never had planning permission and an investigation found that dredging firms were flouting an earlier instruction to stop dredging.

The instruction to stop was issued by the Department of the Environment after complaints that unregulated sand extraction was threatening the habitat of the lough's birdlife.

Answer: Isle of Man

This tale tells how the lough was formed when Finn McCool scooped up a chunk of earth and threw it at his Scottish rival, Benandonner. Our Finn must have been a terrible shot as the rock fell into the Irish Sea, forming the Isle of Man. The crater left behind by this "wee" set-to filled with water and became Lough Neagh.

Answer: Eels

Eel fishing has been a major industry in Lough Neagh for centuries. The eels make their way from the Sargasso Sea via the Gulf Stream, a journey of 4000 miles (6,500Km), to the mouth of the Lower Bann. They then make their way into the lough were they stay for 10 to 15 years before returning to the Sargasso to spawn. Today Lough Neagh eel fisheries export their eels to restaurants all over the world.

Answer: RAF Aldergrove

RAF Cluntoe is on the western shore of Lough Neagh but was only used as an emergency landing ground until 1943 when the airfield was transferred to United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and was called "USAAF Station 238"
RAF Langford Lodge is owned by RLC (UK) part of the RLC Engineering Group a provider of components and services to the Aerospace industry.
RAF Nutts Corner was Northern Ireland's main civil airport until the 1960s when it was abandoned in favour of Aldergrove. Used from 1984 to 2004 for events such as the Irish Superbike Championships and Rallycross, the site is now used for a weekly market; a model aircraft club also uses the site.
RAF Aldergrove first opened in 1918 but was not designated as an operational RAF station until 1925, it closed in 2009. The RAF shared the Aldergrove runways with Belfast International Airport but had its own separate facilities. Belfast International Airport is usually refered to as Aldergrove.

Answer: The Earl of Shaftesbury

In 2005 government officials prepared to sell the lough only to discover it wasn't theirs to sell. It belongs to Nick Ashley-Cooper - the 12th Earl of Shaftesbury.

"Little Nicky" inherited the lough, and title of the 12th Earl of Shaftesbury in 2005, after his father's murder, by his Tunisian wife's brother, and his elder brother's sudden death from a heart attack some weeks later.

Now the government want to take his "pool" into public ownership.