Killarney National Park -1

Nic fancied an autumn break in Ireland, specifically in the South West, so a look at the map and Killarney was a good base, plenty of traditional pubs for the craic and a National Park on the doorstep. I then did some research and discovered that whilst the National Park had open access the rest of the countryside is privately owned, with very restricted access at the whim of the landowner, sigh. According to one Irish hill walking site, Eire has some of the most regressive public access laws in Europe. Further research revealed that some of the Government owned woodlands with SAC status were also closed to public access. At this point I realised the holiday itinerary would be scaled back in ambition and scope. Nonetheless, there were still plenty of hills to walk and woodland to visit.

I'll skip the hill walking bit as the weather was mostly atlantic weather fronts i.e low cloud, poor visibility and/or high winds which mitigated against visiting the loftier viewpoints, confining walking to more modest elevations and photography to views of cloud shrouded higher hills and hazy vistas.

A jewel in the crown of the Killarney NP is Reenadinna Wood, a Yew (Taxus baccata) woodland that has been extant for 3,000 to 5,000 years from palynological analysis of sediments and radiocarbon dating.

Pure Yew woodlands are a rarity and Reenadinna Wood is one of the largest, with the yews mostly growing on outcrops of Carboniferous limestone that are covered by moss. A preliminary scouting visit was made to whet the appetite and then the weather came good with a morning of rain and no wind.

The yew trees host bryophyte communities creating a pleasing juxtaposition of green and red.

A few yew trees were the habitats for lichens.

Fallen yew arils littered the woodland floor and paths exposed the yew roots tracing grikes in the limestone.

Reenadinna Wood is well worth a visit and the next post will cover the Oak woods visited in Killarney National Park.