Outdoor Ireland
Imagine a corner of Europe where otters still swim in city rivers. . . where hedgerows and fields are filled with bird-song. . . where orchids thrive in ancient meadows and along the roadsides. Imagine an island where you can walk for hours along beaches, or over moors and mountains, without meeting another human being. This is Ireland—an unspoiled refuge for nature and for those who love her beauty and her secret lives.

For the bird-watcher and amateur naturalist, one of the great charms of Ireland is its freedom for the wanderer. There are few"Keep Out" notices in the countryside (but do shut the gate!) and even fewer private beaches on the shore. The moorlands and mountains are open to the walker for many miles on end, and there are still corners of the west so little visited as to have all the atmosphere of wilderness.
A small population, often thinly settled away from the cities, has let Ireland take the natural world very much for granted. There is much less pressure on the countryside than in many more crowded countries. For instance, declining in all but the remotest areas of Europe, the otter still thrives nearly everywhere in Ireland. Even in Dublin and Cork, it fishes within three or four kilometers of the city center; in Limerick and Galway, it swims right past the city lights. The otter is the "river dog" of the Irish countryside, found in almost every lake and stream which promises fish. On remoter stretches of coastline, especially in the west, it can often be seen fishing by day.

Ireland has five internationally recognized National Parks which, apart from their scientific importance, contain some of the most spectacular scenery in the country. The five are Glenveagh, Co. Donegal; Killarney, Co. Kerry; Connemara, Co. Galway; The Burren, Co. Clare and in the Wicklow Mountains.
Coillte Teoranta, The Irish Forestry Board manages a network of twelve forest reserve parks in which the emphasis is on public use and recreation. Many of the parks were former private estates absorbing physical features and old woodlands resulting in landscapes of great natural interest and beauty.
Ireland without her wild boglands (or peatlands) would be as unimaginable as Germany without her forests or Switzerland without snow. The rolling, red-brown bogland which blankets valleys and mountains, or rises in domes from the shallow lakes of the midlands, has been part of the Irish landscape for many thousands of years. Exploring a bogland is a must-do for any nature lover visiting Ireland, a journey into Ireland's soul and natural history.
Birdwatching in Ireland is endlessly fascinating. Partly because of Ireland's low population density, habitat has remained remarkably intact. And being on the crest of Europe, the island is a migratory stop for birds from Iceland, Greenland, Scandanavia, the Baltics, the Arctic and Canada. And, now and then, a stray warbler or shorebird gets blown across the Atlantic from North America.
There are 71 National Nature Reserves throughout Ireland. The network of reserves covers woodlands, boglands, grasslands, sand dune systems, bird sanctuaries, coastal heathlands and marine areas. The number of nature reserves is increasing annually.
The countryside in between the protected areas makes for glorious exploration as well. Drive, hop a bike or even"tramp"—you'll find wild Ireland inspiring.
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Ireland Resources
International Parks
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Outdoor Ireland
National Nature Reserves

You can find a reserve by its number on our overview map. . .
44 - The Raven Nature Reserve, Co. Wexford
At the north side of the entrance to Wexford Harbour, at Ireland's southeastern corner, a long (6 km) sand dune system protects the seaward flank of the North Slob, part of which is now a wildfowl reserve famous for its winter flocks of geese. But the dunes and sandbanks are important and interesting in themselves and are under protection as the Raven Nature Reserve.
The dune vegetation includes a number of rare plants, such as lesser centaury, wild asparagus, round-leaved wintergreen and yellow birdnest. Several species of tern, notably the little tern, breed on the beach at the south end of the dunes. The sandbanks provide safe high-tide roosting for waders and, in winter, secure night roosting for the large flocks of geese (mainly Greenland white-fronts) which feed by day on the Wexford Slobs.
45 - Glen of the Downs, Co. Wicklow
This old native woodland containing sessile oak, 7 km south of Bray on the main Wexford road, is a very good example of the type of oakland characteristic of the acid soils in Co. Wicklow.
46 - Dromore, Co. Clare
This is a semi-natural woodland and has four major wetlands including lake, marsh and callow. It is a haunt of Ireland's rarest and shyest wild mammal, the pine marten. The reserve is 10 km north of Ehnis.
47 - Ballinastaig Woodland, Coole/Garryland, Co. Galway
Created largely from land formerly owned by Lady Gregory at Coole, this reserve contains a fascinating variety of floral habitats. They include high forest on deep soil, dwarf woodland on limestone pavement, a complex of turlough wetlands and Coole Lake, on which Yeats counted"nine and fifty swans". Entrance 2 km north-west of Gort. A new visitor center has been developed in the restored outbuildings and visitor facilities include interpretative displays, an audio visual show and nature trails. Literature is also available on site.
48 - The Gearagh, Macroom, Co. Cork
The Gearagh National Nature Reserve is situated on the River Lee near Macroom, Co. Cork. It is a unique and ancient forest system on a broad, braided channel where the river leaves the hills and widens out into an alluvial plain, formed at the end of the last Ice Age. The groupings of plants growing together here are uncommon and there are some rare species such as Dutch Rush. There are also large concentration of wildfowl.
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Wild Boglands
1 Pollardstown Fen
2 Ardkill Bog
3 Clara Bog
4 Slieve Bloom Mountains
5 Roundstone Bog
6 Knockmoyle/Sheskin
7 Owenduff
8 Ceide Fields
Birdwatching Spots
9 Wicklow Mountains
10 Wexford Harbour and Slobs
11 Lady's Island and Tacumshin Lakes
12 Saltee Islands
13 Hook Head
14 Tramore Bay and Dungarven Bay
15 Ballycotton
16 Old Head of Kinsale
17 Cape Clear Island
18 Kilcolman Wildfowl Refuge
19 Dursey Island and Bull Rock
20 The Skelligs
21 Puffin Island
22 Akeragh Lough
23 Shannon and Fergus Estuary
24 River Shannon
25 Cliffs of Moher
26 Rahasane Turlough
27 Lough Corrib
28 Rostaff Lake
29 Clare Island
30 Downpatrick Head
31 Lissadell
32 Sheskinmore Lough
33 Refuge for Fauna, Horn Head
34 Lough Swilly
35 Carlingford Lough
36 Dundalk Bay
37 North Bull National Nature ReserveNational Parks
38 Glenveagh National Park
39 Killarney National Park
40 Connemara National Park
41 Wicklow Mountains National Park
42 The Burren
43 Derrynane National Historic Park
44 The Raven Nature Reserve
45 Glen of the Downs
46 Dromore
47 Ballinastaig Woodland
48 The Gearagh
Forest Parks
49 Lough key Forest Park
50 Killykeen Forest Park
51 Farran Forest Park
52 Currachase Forest Park
53 Portumna Forest Park
54 Ards Forest Park
55 Dun-a-Ri Forest Park
56 Rossmore Forest Park
57 Gougan Barra Forest Park
58 Donadea Forest Park
59 Avondale Forest Park
60 John F. Kennedy Park and Arboretum