II.

Land and Resources

Ireland comprises a broad, central limestone plain, ringed by coastal highlands, which vary considerably in their geology. The flatness of the central lowlands, which are given over primarily to farming, is broken in places by low hills and lakes (or loughs). The peat bogs, which cover about 10 per cent of Ireland and which provide the country’s traditional fuel, are located mainly in the centre and the west. In the west, in County Clare, bordering Galway Bay, is the Burren, an extensive limestone pavement with poor soils and sparse vegetation, but also rich remains of Ireland’s prehistoric civilizations in the form of menhirs, megaliths, and grave mounds. The main mountain ranges are the Donegal Mountains in the north-west, the Wicklow Mountains, the Macgillicuddy’s Reeks in County Kerry, the Knockmealdown and Comeragh mountains in Waterford, and the Twelve Pins in the Connemara region of Galway. Carrantouhill (1,041 m/3,414 ft), Ireland’s highest peak, is located in the Macgillycuddy’s Reeks.

In the west and south-west, the wild and beautiful coast is heavily indented with inlets and bays where the mountains thrust out into the Atlantic. The bays provide safe anchorage and many have developed into harbours, including the Shannon estuary, Galway Bay, Waterford Harbour, and Cork Harbour. Some of the bays, including Bantry and Dingle bays in the south-west, are drowned river estuaries. Bantry Bay is one of western Europe’s principal deep-sea anchorages. An oil terminal, capable of taking the largest super tankers, operated from Whiddy Island in the bay until 1979, when a tanker exploded. The terminal was subsequently shut down. There are many islands off the western coast, notably the Aran Islands and Achill Island.

A.

Rivers and Lakes

The Shannon (354 km/220 mi) is the longest river in Ireland and in the British Isles. It rises in the north in County Cavan at the foot of Cuilcagh Mountain and flows slowly southward to reach the sea at Limerick. Other important rivers are the Liffey, the Barrow, the Nore, the Boyne, the Blackwater, the Moy, and the Suir. Ireland has many loughs, which are primarily a result of glaciation, like the drowned river valleys and much else that typifies the Irish landscape. Many are in the west; a number are in the centre, such as loughs Allen, Ree, and Derg, formed by overdeepening of parts of the River Shannon’s bed during glaciation.

B.

Climate

Ireland has a mild, equable, wet climate that is heavily influenced by the warm Gulf Stream, and by westerly winds in winter, which keep average temperatures up. Temperatures are relatively uniform throughout the country. The average January temperature is 4° to 7° C (39° to 45° F); the average July temperature is 14° to 16° C (57° to 61° F). Rainfall is lowest on the east coast and highest on the west coast, where precipitation in the wettest areas can reach 2,500 mm (98 in); the average is about 1,500 mm (60 in). In the central lowlands the average precipitation is 750 to 1,125 mm (30 to 44 in). Rainfall is spread throughout the year, enabling very long growing seasons in the west of the country.

C.

Plants and Animals

Although much of Ireland was once covered with primeval forest, little now remains. Sedges, rushes, ferns, and grass predominate. Ireland is one of the last outposts of peatlands in Western Europe, and the flora of these regions consists of a large variety of bog moss species together with heather and sedges. The Burren in County Clare is a region of bare Carboniferous limestone, containing arctic-alpine species surviving from the last glaciation and Mediterranean species at the northern end of their range.

Irish fauna does not differ markedly from that of Britain or France. Mammals include the red deer, fox, badger, rabbit, otter, grey seal, common seal, red squirrel, hedgehog, stoat, hare, and many cetacean species. The great Irish deer and the great auk, or garefowl, were exterminated in prehistoric times and subsequently the island has lost its bear, wolf, wildcat, beaver, and native cattle. Indigenous fish include salmon, brown trout, char, pollan, and eel, with other varieties, such as pike, roach, and rainbow trout, having been introduced from outside. Ireland is important for its seabird colonies and migratory waterfowl. Of some 380 species of wild birds recorded in Ireland, 135 breed in the country. There are no snakes and the only reptile is the common lizard. There are national parks at Killarney, County Kerry; Glenveagh, County Donegal; Connemara, County Galway; The Burren, County Clare; and the Wicklow Mountains, County Wicklow; as well as a number of forest parks and many smaller amenities.

D.

Natural Resources

Ireland is not rich in mineral resources. The country has some deposits of lead, zinc, silver, gypsum, and barite. Peat is an important domestic fuel. There is little coal, but natural gas reserves off the coast of County Cork have been in production since the 1980s.

E.

Environmental Concerns

Ireland is a predominantly rural country, and its major environmental challenges involve agricultural practices. Farming has intensified in the past two decades, leading to increases in pesticide and fertilizer use, which in turn have increased chemical pollution in run-off, streams, and estuaries. Soil depletion and erosion are widespread. Parts of the Irish Sea are contaminated with nuclear waste discarded by the United Kingdom.

Ireland has relatively low biodiversity but a large number of unique habitats important to wildlife, including migratory birds. Coastal regions contain many types of wetlands that are of great importance to waterfowl and other species. The most endangered biomes are blanket and raised bogs. These are natural wetlands that have been mined for centuries to supply peat, which is used as domestic fuel and to supply electric power facilities. Modern forestry operations have planted about 5 per cent of the land in exotic conifers, mostly on peatlands. Conservation of the remaining peatlands is a conservation priority of both Ireland and the European Union (EU).

Ireland maintains 6 national parks (Burren NP, Connemara NP, Glenveagh NP, Killarney NP, Mayo NP, and Wicklow Mountains NP) and 300 public forests, including 12 forest parks. Two sites—North Bull Island (1981) and Killarney (1982)—have been approved as biosphere reserves under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Man and the Biosphere Program. The country is bound by EU environmental directives under which it has designated 20 special protection areas and 14 biogenetic reserves. These plus nature reserves and areas of scientific interest bring the total protected land in Ireland to about 0.9 per cent (1997). Ireland has ratified international environmental agreements on air pollution, climate change, environmental modification, hazardous wastes, marine dumping, nuclear test ban, ozone layer, tropical timber, wetlands, and whaling and has signed the conventions on biodiversity, desertification, endangered species, law of the sea, and marine life.