Lakes of Killarney
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Irish English Template:Infobox lake The Lakes of Killarney are a scenic attraction located in Killarney National Park near Killarney, County Kerry, in Ireland. They consist of three lakes: Lough Leane, Muckross Lake (also called Middle Lake) and Upper Lake.<ref name="readersnatural">Template:Cite book</ref>
Surroundings
The lakes sit in a low valley some Template:Convert above sea level.<ref name="readersnatural" /> They are surrounded by the rugged slopes of MacGillycuddy's Reeks. Notable mountains in the range include Carrauntoohil, which, at Template:Convert is Ireland's highest mountain, Purple Mountain, at Template:Convert, Mangerton Mountain, at Template:Convert, and Torc Mountain, at Template:Convert.Template:Fact
The N71 road from Killarney to Kenmare passes a viewpoint called Ladies View which offers a view of the lakes and valleys. On the occasion of Queen Victoria's visit in 1861, the point was apparently chosen by the queen's ladies-in-waiting as the finest in the land; hence the name.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>
Lough Leane
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Lough Leane (Template:Etymology)<ref name="Lakes">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> is the largest and northernmost of the three lakes, approximately Template:Convert in size.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is also the largest body of fresh water in the region.<ref name="Living">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The River Laune drains Lough Leane to the north-west towards Killorglin and into Dingle Bay.
Leane is dotted with small forested islands, including Innisfallen, which holds the remains of the ruined Innisfallen Abbey.<ref name="readersnatural" /> On the eastern edge of the lake, Ross Island, more properly a peninsula, was the site of some of the earliest Copper Age metalwork in prehistoric Ireland.<ref name="Brad146">p142-146, Richard Bradley The prehistory of Britain and Ireland, Cambridge University Press, 2007, Template:ISBN</ref> Ross Castle, a 15th-century keep, sits on the eastern shore of the lake, north of the Ross Island peninsula.
Muckross Lake
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Also known as Middle Lake or Torc Lake, Muckross is just south of Lough Leane.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The two are separated by a small peninsula, crossed by a stone arched bridge called Brickeen Bridge.<ref name="readersnatural" /> It is Ireland's deepest lake, reaching to Template:Convert in parts.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A paved hiking trail of approximately Template:Convert circles the lake.<ref name=":0" />
Upper Lake
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The Upper Lake is the smallest of the three lakes, and the southernmost. It is separated from the others by a winding channel some Template:Convert long.<ref name="readersnatural" />
Folklore
According to folklore, the lakes were the haunt of Kate Kearney, who is said to have sought there O'Donaghue, an enchanted chieftain, and to have died in madness. Kearney is the subject of Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poetical illustration to a view of Template:Ws by William Henry Bartlett,<ref>Template:Cite bookTemplate:Cite book</ref> and in a further Landon poem, Template:Ws, which accompanies a picture by Joseph John Jenkins.<ref>Template:Cite bookTemplate:Cite book</ref> This Kate Kearney should not be confused with the lady who provided refreshment at what is now Kate Kearney's Cottage at the Gap of Dunloe.
Gallery
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Ross Castle visible across Lough Leane
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Brickeen Bridge, where Lough Leane and Muckross Lake meet
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The lakes as viewed from Ladies View
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Hand-drawn map of the Lakes by French artist Alphonse Dousseau, between 1830 and 1869
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Photograph of Upper Lake published by Fergus O'Connor circa 1920 with commotion in bottom right
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