Gougane Barra (Guagán Barra)

A serene mountain lake and island oratory, source of the River Lee.

Ringed by steep mountains, Gougane Barra holds a small island where St Finbarr founded a monastery, now marked by a tiny, much-photographed chapel. The valley is the source of the River Lee and the heart of a forest park.

At a glance

• Source of the River Lee
• St Finbarr's island oratory
• Set within a forest park

In County Cork

Gougane Barra is in County Cork, Corcaigh in Irish, which means “marsh”.

More in Cork

• Múscraí (Muskerry) (Gaeltacht Mhúscraí): The Cork Gaeltacht in the hills of Muskerry, a Munster-Irish community with a rich song tradition.
• Blarney Castle (Caisleán na Blarnan): A medieval stronghold famous for the Blarney Stone and the 'gift of the gab'.
• The River Lee (An Laoi): The river that splits to cradle Cork city on an island.
• Mizen Head (Carn Uí Néid): Ireland's most south-westerly point, reached by a spectacular arched bridge.

Other places of this kind

• The Burren (Boireann): A vast, silvery limestone landscape in County Clare, where Arctic and Mediterranean flowers grow side by side.
• The Cooley Peninsula (Cúailnge): A mountainous peninsula in County Louth, and the setting of Ireland's great epic, the Táin Bó Cúailnge.
• The Glens of Antrim (Glinntí Aontroma): Nine green valleys running from the Antrim plateau down to the sea.
• The Curragh (An Currach): A great open plain of grassland, the historic home of Irish horse racing.
• The Glen of Aherlow (Gleann Eatharlaí): A lush valley between the Galtees and Slievenamuck.
• Sliabh Beagh (Sliabh Beagh): A wild upland of blanket bog and heather where three counties meet.

The Irish name

The Irish form of Gougane Barra is Guagán Barra. You can hear it spoken, and take apart names like it, in the Placename Explorer. The authoritative record for any Irish place-name is logainm.ie.