Strangford Lough

Introducing Strangford Lough

Almost landlocked, Strangford Lough (Loch Cuan; www.strangfordlough.org) is connected to the open sea only by a 700m-wide strait (the Narrows) at Portaferry. Its western shore is fringed by humpbacked islands – half-drowned mounds of boulder clay (called drumlins) left behind by ice sheets at the end of the last Ice Age. On the eastern shore, the drumlins have been broken down by the waves into heaps of boulders that form shallow tidal reefs (known locally as ‘pladdies’).

Large colonies of grey seals frequent the lough, especially at the southern tip of the Ards Peninsula where the exit channel opens out into the sea. Birds abound on the shores and tidal mudflats, including brent geese wintering from Arctic Canada, eider ducks and many species of wader. Strangford Lough oysters are a local delicacy.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009