science

Lough Ennell

Lough Ennell is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lough Ennell rather than just read about it. In short: Lough Ennell (Irish: Loch Ainninn) is a lake near the town of Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland. It is situated beside the N52 road, off the Mullingar/Kilbeggan road.

Key takeaways

Lough Ennell belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lough Ennell to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lough Ennell from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Lough Ennell (Irish: Loch Ainninn) is a lake near the town of Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland. It is situated beside the N52 road, off the Mullingar/Kilbeggan road. The lake is part of the Lough Ennell Special Protection Area. It is 6.5 km (4.0 mi) long by 2 km (1.2 mi) wide, with an area of about 12 km2 (4.6 sq mi). Lough Ennell has a large area of shallow water with nearly two-thirds of its area being less than 25 feet (8 m) and almost half of it being under 10 ft (3.0 m) deep. The lake produced Ireland's largest ever lake brown trout at 26 lbs (11.8 kg). The main river flowing into Lough Ennell is the River Brosna, which enters on the Mullingar side of the lake and exits on the opposite side at Lilliput. Lilliput and Lilliput House were frequently used by Jonathan Swift as a holiday home and place to write, local tradition states that Jonathan Swift was in a boat on the lake when he looked back at Lilliput and noticed how small the people looked at that distance, hence the inspiration for his most famous book Gulliver's Travels. Lilliput at the time was called "Nure" however after the publication of Gulliver's Travels locals began to refer to the lakeshore as Lilliput, the name stuck and today the area is known as Lilliput.

Facilities The loughside has a caravan and camping park, boat hire facilities, hotels and restaurants and a fishery. Belvedere House is also an attraction and is managed by the County Council, it hosts a number of sporting and cultural events annually such as concerts and triathlons.

Angling Lough Ennell fishery is part of the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board's Midland Fisheries Group of managed waters. Brown trout and pike are the main catches. In recent times it appears that stocks of both game and coarse fish in the lake have been declining. There is speculation locally as to the reason for this. In 2019, the Environmental Protection Agency declared the water quality at Lilliput beach on the Lough as "poor".

Starling murmuration A significant population of starlings overwinter at Lough Ennell, forming large murmurations every evening during the winter months. In recent years this natural phenomenon has garnered much public interest with large crowds of people gathering before dusk to observe the starlings. During the COVID-19 lockdown period in 2020, a locally-based photographer captured an evening murmuration that garnered national and international attention.

Sport Westmeath County Council has banned the use of jet skis on the lake. The prohibition came into effect in October 2006 and currently does not apply to speed boats. The shores of Lough Ennell host Mullingar Golf Club, the local golf club to the north east of the lake. The lake hosts Triathlons at Lilliput and Belvedere.

Gallery

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lough Ennell

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lough Ennell claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lough Ennell before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lough Ennell ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lough Ennell

In research: Lough Ennell appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lough Ennell in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lough Ennell is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Glacial lakes, Important Bird Areas of the Republic of Ireland, Lakes of County Westmeath, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lough Ennell outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lough Ennell in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lough Ennell means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lough Ennell out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lough Ennell in simple terms?

Lough Ennell (Irish: Loch Ainninn) is a lake near the town of Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland. It is situated beside the N52 road, off the Mullingar/Kilbeggan road.

Why does Lough Ennell matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lough Ennell?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lough Ennell.