County Leitrim

County Leitrim is one of the counties in the northwest of Ireland and is part of the province of Connacht. Its name derives from the Irish Liath Druim, meaning ‘grey ridge’. It is bo0rdered by Donegal to the north, Fermanagh in Northern Ireland  to the northeast, Cavan to the east, Longford to the south, Roscommon to the southwest and Sligo to the west. It is one of the smaller counties covering 1,589 km² (614 square miles) with a population of just over 35,000 people. The county town is Carrick-on-Shannon, which actually straddles the border with Roscommon.

Leitrim has a dramatic hilly and mountainous landscape in its northwest and is relatively flat in the southeast; the two are separated by Lough Allen in the middle of the county. It is an unspoiled, peaceful land of great natural beauty, consisting of lofty mountains, deep valleys, pastures, lakes, rolling hills and rivers. Leitrim is not a landlocked county as it has a short length of Atlantic coastline (5km) between Sligo and Donegal in the northwest, the shortest coast of any county.

Lough Allen – ©Jesse Burgle Johnson CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Leitrim offers scenic panoramic vistas of Lough Allen and the River Shannon. The Shannon is linked to the Erne via the Shannon-Erne Waterway. Lough Melvin is internationally renowned for its unique range of plants and animals. Lough Allen offers amazing views, especially from the road between Leitrim Village and Drumkeeran. Lough Gill is to the northwest of Dromahair; Parke’s Castle is located on the lake shore. Other particularly beautiful lakes include Lough Garadice, Lough Glenade, Lough Rynn and Lough MacNean.

River Shannon – ©Laurel Lodged, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Shannon flows through Lough Allen; other rivers include the Yellow River, Bonet River, Drowes River and the River Duff.

Birding County Leitrim

The upland areas of the country include inland cliffs and scree slopes are the predominant habitats of the site. Other habitats present on the site include heath, blanket bog, grassland, scrub, woodland and streams. The cliffs hold an internationally important population of breeding Chough, with around 30 birds present. Their numbers are restricted by the limited suitable feeding habitat of unimproved, closely grazed pasture. Its also important are for Peregrine with at least four pairs present. Small numbers of Red Grouse are also supported.

Arroo Mountain SAC is a part of the area on a limestone plateau. The summit supports a large area of wet heath and heath flora is well developed. Active blanket bog occurs in the south and in small areas scattered over the plateau. These areas support typical blanket bog plant species. Golden Plover breed within the site. There are quite extensive areas of commercial plantation to the north Allen. Another part is Boleybrack Mountain SAC comprises an extensive upland plateau situated to the north of Lough Allen. It is dominated by active mountain blanket bog and wet heath, with small scattered throughout.

Glenade Valley – ©Jacobfrid CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Grasslands dominate to the south of the lough with areas of plantation and broadleaf woodland. A dense network of hedgerows across the whole county gives the impression of a well wooded landscape and provide an invaluable source of food, shelter and refuge for flora and fauna. There is little wetland in the south of the county and blanket bog is only found in the extreme south.

Some woodland restoration is taking place along the Shannon some of which regularly floods. Conifers have been removed and replaced with ash, birch, willow and alder suited to such an environment. Some pine has been replaced with restoration of peatlands.