An Port Rua · Co. Tipperary
A slate mountain above the lake, and a quarry that went everywhere.
Portroe sits on the flank of the Arra Mountains, two kilometres above Lough Derg, looking west across the water into County Clare. The name translates from the Irish as 'the red port' - a reference to the ruddy stone the mountain gives up - though the port it refers to is Garrykennedy, the small harbour at the foot of the hill where the village's business actually happened.
For the best part of two centuries, that business was slate. The quarries here produced what the trade called Killaloe slate - named for the port of Killaloe on the Shannon where it was loaded onto barges and sent south and east to roof the towns of Ireland and beyond. The quarry workers were skilled tradesmen. Some went further: a number of families from the Portroe district emigrated to the slate belt of Vermont in the 19th century, following the same stone to a different mountain. The quarries worked on until the industry wound down through the mid-20th century.
When the last quarry closed, the workings flooded with freshwater spring water. The pool that formed - an unusual, clear, deep blue - became something new. Divers found it first, trespassing. A proper dive centre opened in 2010, closed in 2019 over insurance disputes, and has since reopened. The old slate beds and the gear they sank in the pool - a bar, a van, a car - now sit around 40 metres down, growing weeds.
Above it all, the Arra Mountains offer one of the better ridge walks in Tipperary: the loop to Tountinna at 457 metres and the Millennium Cross, with Lough Derg visible almost the whole way. Come down, go to Larkins in Garrykennedy, order the seafood chowder. That is the day.