More lakes Lake Northern Ireland
Ireland's largest lake and the river that drains it to the north coast: open water ringed by council marinas, then 52 km of the Lower Bann through five keeper-worked locks to Coleraine.
Days and hours are our estimate: 7.5 km/h and 15 minutes a lock, about six hours a day.
Start from a ready-made trip, or plan your own day by day: distances, locks and overnight moorings.
Lough Neagh is the biggest lake in Ireland and Britain, about 31 km long and 14 km wide, shallow around the edges and quick to throw up short, steep waves when the wind rises. Five of Northern Ireland's six counties touch its shores. No navigation authority looks after the lough, so its harbours are run by councils, clubs and volunteers: Kinnego beside Oxford Island in the south, Ballyronan and the Battery at Ardboe on the west shore, Antrim's lough shore in the north-east, and a private marina at Sandy Bay facing Ram's Island. At Toome the water leaves through a lock and sluice gates into the Lower Bann, which Waterways Ireland manages for 52 km to Coleraine. The river crosses reedy Lough Beg, passes Portglenone and Kilrea and steps down through five locks, including a double one at Portna. Below the Cutts it becomes tidal, and Coleraine's harbour and marinas lead on to the Atlantic at the Barmouth. Eel fishing, sand barges and huge flocks of wintering wildfowl give the whole area its own character.
25 stops from Kinnego Marina to Seatons Marina.
Desk research, not yet checked on site
The largest marina on Lough Neagh, a council harbour on the edge of the Oxford Island nature reserve with visitor berths, a café, a slipway and the headquarters of Lough Neagh Rescue.
Photo: Robert Ashby · CC BY-SA 2.0
A wooded National Trust island a kilometre off Maghery, once an O'Neill stronghold, where the remains of a 16th-century stone tower still stand.
Photo: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0
A small village at the mouth of the Blackwater, with a council country park, jetties and a slipway, and the shortest crossing to Coney Island.
Photo: P Flannagan · CC BY-SA 2.0
A small public harbour on the Tyrone shore near Ardboe, shared with the lough's fishing boats and a Lough Neagh Rescue station, close to the tenth-century Ardboe Cross.
Photo: Kenneth Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0
A lakeside village that began as a little port in 1788, with a Blue Flag council marina where visiting boats may stay up to seven nights on jetty one.
Photo: Henry Clark · CC BY-SA 2.0
Antrim's lough-shore park at the mouth of the Six Mile Water, with a council jetty and slipway, Antrim Boat Club, The Gateway visitor centre and a riverside path to Antrim Castle Gardens.
Photo: Sourabh.biswas003 · CC BY-SA 4.0
The largest island on Lough Neagh, about a mile off Sandy Bay, with a round tower, the ruins of the O'Neills' summer house, and volunteer-run day trips and camping in summer.
A private marina of about 60 berths on the quiet east shore, facing Ram's Island, from which the island's summer day trips leave.
Photo: Thomas Nugent · CC BY-SA 2.0
The lock and sluice gates at the head of the Lower Bann, where boats leave Lough Neagh through the Toome Canal, worked by a lock-keeper for £1.
Photo: Robert Ashby · CC BY-SA 2.0
The village at Lough Neagh's outlet, home of Europe's largest wild eel fishery, with a canal-side jetty, cafés and a country-house hotel.
Photo: Rossographer · CC BY-SA 2.0
A shallow lake and nature reserve on the river below Toome, crossed by a channel marked with perches, with the lone spire of Church Island near its western shore.
An old ferry crossing just below Lough Beg, now the water-ski centre of the Lower Bann, with jetties, slipways and council facilities on both banks.
A riverside village with a 35-berth council marina by the bridge, low visitor rates and an ancient bluebell wood half a mile away.
Photo: Chris Morgan · CC BY-SA 2.0
The Lower Bann's only double lock, on a short cut on the west side of the river near Kilrea, with a dry dock above it and showers, water and a campsite.
Photo: Aubrey Dale · CC BY-SA 2.0
A market village on the Derry bank just below Portna, reached from the Portneal jetty by Kilrea Bridge, with a big inflatable water park on its own lake.
Photo: David Purchase · CC BY-SA 2.0
A quiet lock in open country about 5 km below Kilrea, worked by the keeper who also covers Carnroe, with showers, water, a slipway and a small campsite.
Photo: Robert Ashby · CC BY-SA 2.0
The fourth lock down from Toome, a short run below Movanagher and worked by the same lock-keeper, with toilets and canoe steps.
Photo: Stephen Taggart · CC BY-SA 2.0
A five-star council holiday park and 32-berth marina on the Lower Bann near Ballymoney, and the base of Bann River Cruises' self-drive cruisers.
Photo: Shane Killen · CC BY-SA 2.0
The last lock on the Lower Bann, at the Cutts above Coleraine, below which the river is tidal, with the Stone Age site of Mountsandel just downstream.
Photo: Aubrey Dale · CC BY-SA 2.0
Coleraine's old stone town bridge, the lowest fixed clearance between Lough Neagh and the sea: about 4.2 m at low water but only around 1.5 m at high water.
The river town at the lowest crossing of the Bann, with secure harbour pontoons in the town centre and Mountsandel, one of the oldest settlements in Ireland, a short walk upstream.
Translink's lifting railway bridge just below Coleraine town centre, with about 4.9 m of clearance at the highest tides; lifts on request, fitted around the trains.
Photo: KS · CC BY-SA 2.0
The council marina about a mile below Coleraine on the east bank, the usual visitor stop on the tidal Bann, with boat fuel, a travel-lift and a mast-lowering facility.
A privately run riverside marina and holiday complex between Coleraine and Portstewart, with over 200 m of deep-water pontoons; visitors by arrangement.
A small family-run private marina two miles below Coleraine and three miles from the sea, which takes visiting boats when it has a free space and they have booked ahead.
Pump-out, water, fuel, shore power, showers and laundry where a listing says so, in route order. Tap a stop for who runs it and when.
A stop not listed here may still have them: nobody has checked yet. Know better? Report a change
Mooring limits, locks, speed and hazards, in our own words with links to the sources.
Lough Neagh has no navigation authority and no statutory boating rules. The Department for Infrastructure keeps up the marks, a modified IALA cardinal and lateral system numbered 1–47 clockwise from the Toome Canal entrance (Kinnego Marina, DfI). From Toome to Coleraine the Lower Bann is a Waterways Ireland navigation; below Coleraine's old bridge, Coleraine Harbour Commissioners are the authority (notice).
The Lower Bann's public moorings have no time limit, and there is no winter mooring. On the lough each marina sets its own terms: at Ballyronan visitors may stay up to 7 nights on jetty one.
Five locks (Portna is double), 35 m × 5.5 m, draft 1.2 m, all worked by lock-keepers for £1 a lock, £0.50 each when two or more boats share. Hours: April–May 10:00–18:30, June–August 09:00–20:00, September–October 10:00–18:00, November–March 10:00–16:00, closed 13:00–14:00. Phone the keeper before setting off (boater information). From 1 November to 17 March, also check with Waterways Ireland that the river is open.
Coleraine's town bridge clears about 4.2 m at low water but only 1.5 m at high water. The railway bridge below it lifts on request around the trains (VHF 12).
The lough gets rough quickly, and river mouths and quays silt up. After heavy rain the river runs in spate, with strong currents at the Cutts, Portna, Movanagher and Carnroe. Toxic blue-green algae has bloomed every summer since 2023 (Wikipedia): if in doubt, stay out of the water and keep dogs on a lead (DAERA). At the Barmouth, breakers on Portstewart pier mean the bar may be impassable.
Warnings come from the Met Office. In an emergency dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard; Lough Neagh Rescue has stations at Kinnego, Ardboe and Antrim.
This is a travel guide, not a navigation aid.
Loading the latest conditions…
5 locks on this waterway. The times below are worked out on this device. They change with the season: always read the notice.
All lock and bridge times Check the Waterways Ireland marine notices
Ready-made trips that start here or pass through.
No events listed for this waterway yet.
Current Waterways Ireland marine notices for this waterway.
Source: Waterways Ireland · All marine notices on Waterways Ireland
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