Ireland's first marine national park has a name... but does it have much else going for it yet?
Fishing activity can only be controlled by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Pictures: Pádraic Fogarty
Ireland’s newest National Park, Páirc Náisiúnta na Mara Ciarraí, was announced in April 2024. It incorporates a combination of lands already in State ownership, either by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) or the Office of Public Works including Sceilg Mhichíl and the former home of Daniel O’Connell at Derrynane, but it also incorporates newly-purchased lands at the Conor Pass, the dune system at Inch, and the fishery on the Owenmore River which contains a run of Atlantic salmon and the very rare and threatened freshwater pearl mussel.
Significantly, the new Park also contains a substantial component in the marine environment, including the waters around An Bhlascaoid Mhóir and at the Kerry Heads Shoal with their important reefs and populations of grey seal, puffins and harbour porpoise.
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