Only One Ireland: parks

Showing posts with label parks. Show all posts

Monday, August 13, 2007

Wildlife of urban parks in Dublin

South County Dublin contains around 16 square kilometers of public parks and open spaces. Not only enjoyed by people, these provide invaluable habitat and wildlife corridors for many fish, birds, mammals, amphibians, insects, plants, fungi...

Sightings include otters, foxes, herons, kingfishers, sparrowhawks, common frogs, smooth newts, red admiral butterflies and the now-scarce cowslip.

Ask About Ireland's report on the Wildlife and Parks of South Dublin County provides an overview of the wildlife that frequent the urban parkland of Dublin (and presumably, other cities) in Ireland. Habitats explored include the riparian - rivers, river bank, lakes and lakesides - grassland, hedgerows and woodlands.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Killarney National Park, Co. Kerry

103 sq km of mountain, moorland, woodland, waterways, parks and gardens. Home of Ireland's only remaining wild herd of native red deer, the largest area of old-growth oakwoods left in the country and one of only three pure yew woods left in Europe.

Friday, November 10, 2006

National Parks in Ireland

There are six national parks in Ireland, covering a combined area of 596 sq km, or only 0.86% of Ireland's total land area (68890 sq km). The criteria and standards for national parks are laid down by the World Conservation Union (also known as IUCN - International Union for the Conservation of Nature). Much of the land is also designated as a SAC (Special Area of Conservation (PDF format)) under the EU Habitats Directive.

Travelling clockwise around Ireland from Dublin the national parks:

Wicklow Mountains National Park, Co. Wicklow (159 sq km)
Killarney National Park, Co. Kerry (103 sq km)
The Burren National Park, Co. Clare (17 sq km)
Connemara National Park, Co. Galway (30 sq km)
Ballycroy National Park, Co. Mayo (118 sq km)
Glenveagh National Park, Co. Donegal (170 sq km)

The island of ireland

Once upon a time, and for 15000 years, ice a mile high blanketed Ireland. When the lingering Ice Age finally released and the Irish ice departed it left a landscape scoured. Across land bridges linking Ireland, Britain and mainland Europe plants and animals arrived to colonise the new lowlands, mountains and valleys. The world’s ice continued to melt, the sea levels to rise, and some 8000 years ago Ireland became the island we now know, accounting for just 0.01% of the world's total land area and the most westerly point of Europe.

Though at Alaskan latitudes, the country's climate is tempered, due partly to the neighbouring waters of the Gulf Stream and partly the prevailing southwesterlies that veering and backing make landfall on our sodden coast. These offerings from the Atlantic mean it is never too hot, never too cold. But without doubt it is wet. Rain lingers year round, never far away, though is most frequent in winter, the western counties and, inevitably, on the day of your parade.