nature reserves ireland

Reilly Wood has old oak trees planted some 150 years ago under the management of Crom Estate. The trees are evenly spaced with full crowns which prevent light reaching the woodland floor, where bilberry, wood sorrel and young trees flourish. At the south of Reilly Wood, a thick band of rhododendron was originally planted as shelter for game. Unfortunately it encroached into the woodland but through careful management has now been removed, allowing heather and native trees, especially birch and...

The natural valley in which most of north county Dublin lies, results in large areas of wetlands, where slow flowing rivers and the sea meet or where the sea itself invades and retreats, creating fascinating wetland and broadmeadows. These areas provide a natural habitat for a huge variety of sea birds and other flora and fauna....

A visit to the Silver River Geological Reserve at Cadamstown will start you on a journey into a remote past and provide you with an insight into a landscape formed by seas and rivers over 400 million years ago. There has been little disturbance to the river valley over the intervening years and the Silver River gorge retains much of its ancient character. It is a special place and one of considerable beauty and interest. The first settlers came to the area about 3,000 B.C., but more recentl...

Coole was once the home of Lady Gregory, co-founder with WB Yeats of the National Theatre Company of Ireland. It is now a nature reserve with a unique matrix of habitats populated by red deer, squirrels, badgers and a great variety of birds. The restored Courtyard has an Interpretative Centre and Tea Rooms....

Coole Park is the former home of Lady Augusta Gregory, a great friend of W.B. Yeats and co-founder of the Abbey Theatre. It's located about 3km north of the county Galway town of Gort and is operated by the National Parks & Wildlife Service. It spans about 1,000 acres and includes 6km of nature trails, 7 woods and of course Coole Lake.
Coole House, since demolished, was a focal point in the Celtic Literary Revival at the turn of the century. The initials of notable visitors to Coole Hou...

A dyke, built in the 1840's, created over 1,000 hectares of mudflats and islands which now form a world renowned wildfowl reserve. Nearly half the world's population of Greenland white-fronted geese winter here where the reeds and shallows harbour over 190 species of water-fowl and waders.
There's an information centre where illustrations of the main species to be seen in this natural wonderland are displayed. Along the entrance driveways are 'hides' from which the wild fowl can be v...

The reserve is part owned by the Irish Wildbird Conservancy, and run by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. One third of the world's population of Greenland white Fronted Geese over winter here.

International figures of Brent Geese are to be seen, and thousands of other duck and wader species winter here too. Excellent viewing facilities with hides and observation tower. Visitor centre open daily, free admission. Guided tour on request....

Sandwiched between Cuilcagh Mountain and the Erne Lowlands lies the most extensive area of limestone grassland in Northern Ireland. At one time the entire area was wooded with hazel, elm and ash. With the clearances for the farming since the Stone Age, only a few patches of hazel scrub now remain. The scrub shelters delicate woodland flowers including wood sorrel and primroses. The cuckoo is frequently heard in May. Meadow pipits perch on branches, but are most commonly seen rising and falling...

Like most of the shoreline of Lough Neagh, the fields at Brookend were once part of the lake bed but have since been exposed by successive water level lowerings since the 1840's. The site is now partially flooded in winter but drier in summer - ideal conditions for many rare and special plants. In the spring the shore rings with the calls of cuckoos and curlews against the noisy background of the breeding colony of black-headed gulls on the island just offshore. In summertime the colourful g...

Overlooking Lower Lough Macnean is a magnificent 50m high limestone cliff, the Hanging Rock. Yew and jumiper cling to its face. At the bottom of the cliff is one of the finest ash woodland in Northern Ireland. It is believed that the great variety of lichens found here indicate woodland cover since ancient times. An area was clearfelled in the early 1940's and has now grown back naturally. Toothwort, a parasitic plant, lives on the roots of the hazel and elm. It looks unusual as it is totally...