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Ballycroy National Park |
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Ballycroy National Park
in County Mayo, and the Visitor Centre
can be located in Ballycroy, County Mayo
between the towns of Mulranny and
Bangor. Established in 1981, Ballycroy
National Park is made up of blanket bog
land, alpine heath, upland grassland and
mountain views of Nephin Beg mountain
range and also enjoy Scardaun Loughs.
Owenduff bog is one of the last intact
active blanket bog systems in Ireland
and Western Europe and is an important
scientific and scenic feature of the
National Park. Important fauna in Ballycroy National Park in Mayo include
Greenland White-fronted Geese, Golden
Plover, Red Grouse and Otters. The
Owenduff/Nephin Complex Special Area of
Conservation (SAC) and Special
Protection Area (SPA). Glacial activity
over the past 2.5 million years has
created some of the most scenic features
of the Park. These include the many
corrie lakes such as Corryloughaphuill
Lough. Glacial boulder clay, found at
the southern edge of the Nephin beg
mountain range, is further evidence of
glacial activity. |
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Burren National Park |
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The Burren National Park
located in the Burren is an area of
extensive rock and wild fauna. The area
has extensive coverage of limestone,
calcareous grassland, hazel scrub,
lakes, and wild fauna. A trip to the
Burren National Park offers a view of
the many diverse plants living in the
one ecosystem. The visitor to the Burren
can experience Alpine plants living side
by side with Mediterranean plants,
calcicole (lime loving) and calcifuge
(acid loving) plants growing adjacent to
one another and woodland plants growing
out in the open with not a tree nearby
to provide shade from the sun. The
Burren National Park offers views of
Knockanes mountain range and had
Mullaghmor to the south. Also within the
Burren National Park are several lakes
such as Lough Gealáin, Travaun Lough,
Coolorta Lough, Coolreash Lough, Aughrim
Lough, Ballyeighter Lough and Lough
Bunny. Some of these lakes behave partly
as Turloughs being fed from the ground
water through springs. |
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Connemara National Park |
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Connemara National Park
located in the West of Ireland in County
Galway offers much to the visitor such
as grasslands and woodlands, large spans
of bog and heath, and wonderful
mountains views including Benbaun,
Bencullagh, Benbrack and Muckanaght, are
part of the famous Twelve Bens or Beanna
Beola range where
there are metamorphic type rock. Western
blanket bog and heathland are the main
vegetation in the Park. Purple
moor grass adds colour to the area.
Travel from Letterfrack to access the
Visitor Centre and the National Park of
Connemara, which was named Bioblitz
Champions of 2010. The National Park had
been part of the lands of the Kylemore
Abbey Estate initially. Also seen within
the Connemara National Park are signs of
old megalithic court tombs. Enjoy the
visit. |
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Glenveagh National Park |
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Glenveagh National
Park situated in Co. Donegal,
north-west of
Letterkenny and can be reached via the
villages of Kilmacrennan or Churchill.
Set in Glenveagh
National Park
is Glenveagh Castle
& Gardens (open to the public), the
Castle is a 19th century
castellated mansion and was built
between 1867 and 1873. Glenveagh
is set on 16,000
acres in the heart of the Derryveagh
Mountains with Lough
Veagh & Dunlewy Lake close by.
The Park lands were managed as a
private deer forest before becoming a
national park in 1975
and opened to the public in 1986. Upland
blanket bog, which today covers the
greater part of Glenveagh, was preceded
by forests of Scots pine and birch,
giving way to oak, hazel and alder on
the lower slopes.
The drier patches are favoured by ling
heather, bell heather, crowberry and
blaeberry. The latter shrub, which has
edible blue berries, is also known as
bilberry or frochan. The damper patches
of bog support wet grassland containing
fescue, deer grass, rushes and purple
moor grass or molinia. Purple moor grass
is avoided by deer who seek out the
sweeter grasses and sedges. This favours
the growth of molinia , which is
particularly abundant in Glenveagh. The
largest animal in the park is to be
found grazing on the grasses and sedges
of the bog, the red deer. Though
enclosed by the deer fence the Glenveagh
herd of Red Deer remain completely wild
and as with most wild animals can be
difficult to approach. The best time for
watching Red Deer is during the mating
season or ‘rut’ which takes place each
year between mid-September and
mid-November. The sheer abundance of
meadow pipits in Glenveagh is
noteworthy. The Glenveagh Visitor
Centre is located on the northern end of
Lough Veagh, near the edge of the
National Park. Its award-winning design
incorporates a living heather roof
mimicking the surrounding landscape
causing minimum disturbance. |
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Killarney National Park |
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Killarney National Park
offers some wonderful
scenery from the view of the
McGillycuddy Reeks Irelands highest
mountain range to the famous Killarney
Lakes. Set within Killarney National
Park is Muckross House & Gardens. The
park contains native oakwoods & yew
woods along with other trees and shrubs
in this mild climate. Red Deer and Kerry
Cattle can also be found roaming in the
Park. Killarney National Park was
designated in 1981 a Biosphere Reserve,
by UNESCO. Killarney National Park is
suitable for walkers and cyclists and
you may be passed by jaunting cars along
the way. Enjoy a midway stop off point
at Dinis Cottage to enjoy a sit down and
a cup of tea. |
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Wicklow Mountains National Park |
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Wicklow Mountains National Park,
County Wicklow established in 1991
including Glendalough Woods and
the adjacent Glenealo Valley,
and land around the Liffey Head
Bog complex were also purchased from the
Powerscourt Estate to
include in the Park. The Park consists
primarily of heath and bog cloaked
uplands along with woodland in the river
valleys. The rounded granite mountains
forged some 500 million years ago now
support a wide diversity of wildlife.
The geological divide between granite
and schist is clearly visible in places
like Glendalough where coarse granite
boulder scree suddenly gives way to
smoother shiny schist. The flora
ranges from different types of ferns,
Narrow Buckler Fern, Wilson's Filmy
Fern, Beech Fern, to mosses, herbs,
rushes, and grasses. The
Park has most of the mammal species that
are found inland in Ireland. Some are
easier to find than others. One
such being the
Wild Goat grazing in small herds in the
Glendalough valley, deer
& the Mountain
Hare. Rabbits are found at lower, drier
altitudes where they can find suitable
soil to burrow in. Red Squirrels can be
seen scrambling in the stands of pine
trees and the Grey Squirrel is now also
establishing a presence.
The Wicklow Mountains are famous for
granite rock which has been quarried for
centuries. Mining for lead and other
minerals such as zinc and silver was a
major industry in the Wicklow Mountains.
The formation of these minerals is tied
in with the process of granite and
schist formation.
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