A new app has been launched to help locals and tourists to explore what Lough Derg has to offer.
‘Adventure Lough Derg’ is available on the App Store and Google Play, following a collaboration between Destination Lough Derg, Fáilte Ireland and the Councils in Tipp, Galway and Clare.
As well as finding local sights and trails, people can also win prizes each week for completing adventures around the region.
Sinéad Cahalan is Tourism & Marketing Officer with Tipperary County Council: “It’s cutting edge technology. It’s 12 adventures around the lake, and there are choices within each adventure. So it amounts to 38 different things to do around Lough Derg.
“So what we wanted to do was to educate the visitor into the multitude of things that people can do when they visit the lake.”
Each week, a competition with one of the 12 adventures will go live, and visitors to the region can complete the adventure via the app. You will then be in with a chance to be nominated the ‘Adventurer of the Week’. A weekly prize of local artisan craft and design is up for grabs.
The prizes include a specially commissioned Adventure Lough Derg print by Ogonnelloe based artist Lynn Kenny; handmade chocolate from Tuamgraney based chocolatier Wilde Irish Chocolate, specialty hand-roasted coffee from Old Barracks Coffee, Birdhill and three hours bike hire for a family of four with Dick’s Bike Hire in Portumna (with 8 satellite stations located in villages around the lake to choose from).
Speaking at the launch, Joe MacGrath, Chairman of Destination Lough Derg, said, ”We are thrilled to launch this initiative. Adventure Lough Derg is an ideal opportunity to encourage people to use Lough Derg as a fitness and recreational resource whilst also providing a vast array of opportunities for exploration and enjoyment for visitors and locals alike. We look forward to welcoming everyone to Lough Derg this summer and Autumn.”
Paddy Mathews, head of Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, said, ‘’The Lough Derg region covering counties Tipperary, Galway and Clare is an ideal staycation destination with so much to offer along the shoreline and throughout the many picturesque villages and towns. We are delighted to support this initiative which will bolster the already stellar offerings provided by all our tourism partners in the region.”
Michelle Kavanagh , Marketing Manager of the Abbey Court, Nenagh, is delighted to welcome back guests to the region, ”The Adventure Lough Derg app gives our guests a new way of experiencing everything the lake and its surrounds has to offer. It is fantastic to see so many of the region’s tracks, trails, and lakeside activities brought together and with the app’s mapping technology, made so easily accessible. The interactive and competitive nature of the initiative provides a real fun element that will suit all our visitors.”
