Indicated — Lady's Island

Lady’s Island was once a triangular island (max. dims c. 700m N-S; c. 220m E-W at S) with the apex at the N end in Lady’s Island Lough (dims c. 3.5km NNE-SSW; c. 500m-1.5km E-W), a lake that was called Lough Togher in the 17th century (Hore 1862, 62, 87). Salt water seeps through the bar separating the lake from the sea and the bar is sometimes breached, so the lake is a semi salt-water lagoon. The causeway connected the mainland with the island and was the only access for pilgrims and others. On the island side the tower house (WX053-014001-) and its attached gatehouse (WX053-014002-) control access to the church (WX053-013001-), but there must have been a gateway associated with the tower on the N side of the bawn (WX053-015----), that is at the S end of the causeway from the lake-shore c. 100m to the N. The nature of the causeway is not known, but it was probably a natural shingle spit. Today it is hidden beneath a grass sward (Wth c. 100m NE-SW), and the shore has extended out to meet the island. When the water-level in the lake is high the causeway can be seen as a raised bank (Wth c. 10m; H c. 0.5-1m) beneath a gravel roadway. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 25 March, 2014