Westmeath

County Westmeath is a county situated in the Irish midlands, also popularly called the ‘Lake County’ in the western part of the province of Leinster. It covers an area of 1,764 km² (710 square miles). The county town is Mullingar, although the largest settlement is Athlone. It has a total population of about 96,000 people, almost a third of whom live in Athlone. It is a landlocked county, bordered by Roscommon to the west, Longford and Cavan to the north, Meath to the north and east and Offaly to the south.

Westmeath is a low-lying county that has traditionally been an agricultural economy – particularly associated with high quality beef production and horse breeding. The development of industry in Westmeath has been based on food processing and consumer products. Whiskey production in Kilbeggan, tobacco processing in Mullingar, and the meat trade are prominent. The district to the East of Mullingar is now part of the commuter belt serving the technology parks on the western side of Dublin, proving popular with people who wish to work in Leixlip, County Kildare.

Lough Ennell sunrise – ©Neil Forrester CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The county has many lakes; the most significant being Lough Derravaragh, Lough Ennell, Lough Lene, Lough Owel and Lough Ree. Both the Grand Canal, and the Royal Canal go through Westmeath, and the Shannon, which forms the county’s western boundary, has a considerable inland harbour in Athlone. Westmeath’s major rivers are the River Brosna and the River Inny, which, together, drain much of the county’s Lakeland landscape. Other rivers include, the Deel, Gaine, Glore, Monagh and Stonestown.

Birding County Westmeath

While Westmeath is not blessed with many nature reserves, it is a largely rural county with many lakes and waterways, as well as farming based on animal husbandry which can be wildlife friendly. There are areas of bog and woodland too.

Royal Canal – ©Silverblaster CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Scragh Bog Nature Reserve is the best illustration in Ireland of the transition from alkaline fen to acidic raised bog and one of the few such remaining in Europe. It contains a large number of uncommon plants and insects, so is rated as being of international importance. The greater part of the bog was purchased by the Irish Peatland Conservation Council. It was then handed over to the State for management as a Nature Reserve. Plants include Sphagnum Moss, Sundew and the notable species Round-leaved Wintergreen. Birds include Skylark and Common Snipe.

Ardan Wood was the first truly ancient woodland site that the Native Woodland Trust acquired. There is an established Badger sett on site. Common and Soprano Pipistrelle Bats have been recorded on the site too, with plenty of potential bat roosting sites in the trees, with Pedunculate Oak the dominant species of the woodland canopy. Expect the common resident woodland species, as well as summer visiting breeding warblers etc.

The county has become a destination for seeing Starling murmurations and Lough Ennell is a prime location to witness the spectacle during late autumn, through winter and early spring. The lough is also good for waterfowl year-round with always the chance of Scaup and rarities such as Ring-necked Duck.