[1] The lake lies on the early course of the River Inny, a major tributary of the Shannon,[3]: p.4  a little upstream of Lough Kinale.

Nutrient loading, notably of phosphorus, originating from intensive agricultural developments upstream caused a progressive enrichment of the Lough's waters which led to a substantial decrease in the number of trout from the 1970s to the early 2000s.

[7] A state agency, Inland Fisheries Ireland, monitors the water quality, including the level of phosphorus, and in conjunction with local organisations, primarily the Lough Sheelin Trout Preservation Association, it and a predecessor body, the Inland Fisheries Trust, has stocked the lake with farm-reared trout.

There is also an abundance of common roach in the lake, and other species present include 3- and 9-spined stickleback, pike, perch, and eels.

The song is purportedly based on an account of an eviction of more than 700 tenants,[9] witnessed by Dr. Thomas Nulty, Roman Catholic Bishop of Meath,[10] in 1848, in his first year as a priest in the diocese.