The best walks and hikes around Lough Derg

This quiet country road offers easy walking and stunning views across the countryside. The highlight of the section is this small lough with woodland behind it.

The Meenadreen Extension is Energia's largest onshore wind farm, consisting of 38 Nordex N90 2.5 MW turbines with a total capacity of 95 MW. It has been in operation since 2017.

From here over the Lough you can see St Patrick's Purgatory which is an ancient pilgrimage site that is suggested to have not been interrupted for fifteen hundred years, with it continuing in the present day. Its importance in medieval times is clear due to its present on maps all over Europe as early as the 15th century. It was the only Irish site designated on Martin Behaim's world map of 1492.

The Leghowney loop is beautiful and well off the beaten track. If you are looking for a place to run where you're unlikely to bump into anyone else, this could be it. It is mostly on forest trails which open out to rural views with the sea in the distance. It starts and ends in Leghowney where you can find a picnic area, toilets and a children's playground at the start of the waymarked trail.

The Leghowney loop passes through the Meenadreen Windfarm. It is a unique opportunity to pass close by to the impressive wind turbines.

If you are running the Leghowney loop, be sure to look back as you climb out of the village.

St Patrick's Purgatory is so called due to the legend that Jesus showed St Patrick the entrance to purgatory through a cave on the island. It is an ancient pilgrimage site and is visited by pilgrims every year between May and September for a three day retreat.

On the Pilgrim's Path, which runs around the edge of the lake, you will find St Brigid's Well.