Driminidy Lough
The interactive map of Driminidy Lough can be found on the map page (opens in a new tab).
Driminidy Lough lies in the centre of the map in a slight depression on a shelf at about 65 to 70 m above sea level. This shelf lies on the south western side of an area of land that lies to the south of Lahanaght Hill which, although not apparent from this map, in reality is very much like a plateau of rolling land at about 120 m.
The lake is separated from the Saivnose valley to the south by a couple of hills and a ridge. To the west lies a stretch of lowlying land which drains south, beyond which the land rises to higher ground which drains east into the low land.
This is a glaciated landscape which has been shaped first by the passage of the ice sheet and then later, and predominantly, by the moulding of the landscape during early post glacial times by large amounts of water draining through unconsolidated sediment that has little stability due to the lack of plant life and the stabilising effect of root systems. The map illustrates well the band of post glacial and meltwater sediment within which the lake established. With the reintroduction of plant growth as the climate became more conducive after the glaciation ended, plants established around the lake and a bog developed. As dead plant matter accumulated at the edges of the lake, the area of open water very slowly shrank and the area of bog increased. This change of environment from open water, through floating plants, to bog, and eventually to dryish land is known as a hydrosere. How long this took and how deep the bog, lake, and lake bed sediment is, has yet to be determined.
Geologically this area is interesting in that it lies on the northern limb of the Ballydehob anticline, which has its surface axis in the Castlehaven Formation, seen in the south of the map; and is also on the southern limb of the Drimoleague syncline, which has its axis in the Pigs Cove member of the Kinsale Slate, in the north of the map. However, as is so often the case, there is no noticeable aspect of the landscape that can be attributed directly to this structural geology.
The lake water level lies at about 66 m above sea level (asl); the open water measures 140 m north to south and 150 m east to west - so it is more or less circular. The lake is surrounded by bog, but lies closer to the higher ground to the southern side where the road skirts the lake edge. The bog is also almost circular, measuring 350 m north to south and about 320 m east to west - though it is hard to define the edges of the bog to dryland. There is one outlet from the lake and bog, leaving the depression at about 66 to 67 m asl in the north west corner; this stream flows across meadowland almost directly west to the bog road (see below) where it joins the Dromduvane stream at about 50 m asl, and flows south to meet the Saivnose river just to the south of Bredagh Cross.
Another outlet leaves the depression in the south west corner and also flows down along the course of the bog road until it meets the other outlet, which it joins. In fact this second outlet does not flow now except in times of extreme rainfall - its course is crossed by the main Bredagh Cross to Drinagh road, and then is followed by the bog road.
There are three ringforts and an enclosure close by the lough. Kilscohanagh ringfort (CO133-011---) lies 350 m north of the lake; Derryclogh Upper (CO133-012----) at about 470m ENE of the lake; and the prominent Bohernabredagh ringfort (CO133-007001-) at 1 km just south of west from the lake. The enclosure lies at 1 km to the SW of the lake. These last two are both hilltop sites, though at low elevation and not lying distinctively above the surrounding countryside. The former two ringforts lie midway up gently south facing slopes. There are a further eight ringforts in the area of the map. Two to the west lie each side of the old road over the hills that was mentioned above. Two lie in the SE corner of the map on the southern side of the Saivnose river on north and west facing slopes; the remainder lie on the southern slopes up to the plateau that lies south of Lahanaght Hill (mentioned here). Most of the water draining into the Driminidy Lough depression probably comes from this plateau, and the south western slopes of Lahanaght Hill.
In the NE corner of the map can be seen a small section of the Minanes river glacial meltwater channel (visible in full here, which river drains out of the middle of the plateau. There are also several other areas of peat deposits on this map which have yet to be visited. The most prominent of these lies south of the hill that borders the southern edge of Driminidy Lough, in Derryclogh Lower and in the Saivnose valley. Another large deposit is in the west, in Lissane Lower, near the Tooreen ringfort (off this map). These deposits will be visited and investigated as to depth and quality of peat. The intention is to determine whether they were once small lakes that have now filled in; and to ascertain the level of preservation in them of pollen, spores, diatoms and other fossils.