Church Island Trip

Seamus Heaney Country

Discover Church Island Loughbeg

Seamus Heaney Country

Boarding at the Lock-Keepers Cottage on Toome canal

Meet your Skipper at the Lock-Keepers Cottage on Toome Canal, a Waterways Heritage Centre, cafe and community hub. Here you will have a safety briefing and get fitted with your lifejacket.

Beginning our journey we see the remains of Toome Railway Bridge, built in 1856, and reconstructed for filming scenes with Peter Dinklage and Iain Glen in Game of Thrones.

Eel Fishery

Passing under the bridge at Toome we see the Eel Fishery from a different perspective. There are always hoards of Herons here waiting for a chance to get a tasty meal.

Loughbeg

Going under the Blue Bridge at Toome and around the bends we glide into the mostly unseen Lough Beg which is a stunning wildlife reserve.

Listen and watch for the famed Whooping Swans of Lough Beg who grace us with their presence year after year.

Church Island

Situated in the middle of Lough Beg is Church Island, a small mound of land accessible by boat.

Church Island is a treat to see, where there is a church without a spire and a spire without a church. Immortalised in Seamus Heaney’s poem “The Strand at Lough Beg”:

“Where you weren’t known and far from what you knew:
The lowland clays and waters of Lough Beg,
Church Island’s spire, its soft treeline of yew”.

The church here, called Inis Taoide, is over 1000 years old and is reputed to have been visited by St. Patrick. It is a well known local feature and still a site of pilgrimage today.

Here we move onto a smaller shallow draft RIB boat to perform a beach landing on the island, where you can spend time exploring, relaxing, or simply soaking in the atmosphere. Feel free to bring a picnic and or refreshments.