Loughareema – Ballycastle, Northern Ireland - Atlas Obscura
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Loughareema

Ballycastle, Northern Ireland

The lake that fills and empties itself at random. 

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Situated on the coast road, just a few miles from the seaside town of Ballycastle, “The Vanishing Lake” is a chalk sinkhole that occasionally gets blocked up when peat washes into it.

Water draining off from surrounding land fills the lake up, sometimes flooding the nearby road after particularly heavy rains. One such flood claimed the lives of a Colonel John Magee McNeille, his coachman, and two horses back in 1898.

Once the blockage is cleared,or the aquifer beneath can accept more water, the “Vanishing Lake”… vanishes.

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+44 (0)28 2073 1855

geological oddities natural wonders water geology nature
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Annetta Black
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Edited by
Annetta Black, hrnick, aribrown, mbison
Published
June 29, 2009
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