The National Parks Of Ireland

The Republic of Ireland covers an area of 70,273 square kilometers and the island as a whole, along with it’s many offshore islands, has a 1,448 kilometer coastline located along the Atlantic Ocean to it's west, the Irish Sea to it's east and north, the Celtic Sea to it's south, the North Channel to it's north and the Saint George's Channel to it's east.

The republic shares a 499 kilometer long, open border with Northern Ireland, a region of the United Kingdom, to it's north.

The country is home to six national parks, all of which are described below. 

  

  

BALLYCROY NATIONAL PARK

The Ballycroy National Park is located in County Mayo, covers an area of  110 square kilometers and was designated with national park status in 1998. 

The park consists of 11,779 hectares of mountains, loughs and blanket bogs which between them are home to vast areas of heathland, alpine heath and grassland.

The park has been designated with Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Special Protection Area (SPA) and Natura 2000 status owing to the very diverse flora and fauna located there.

The park is home to the Owenduff and Tarsaghaun rivers, the Scardaun Loughs, the Nephin Beg Mountain Range and the Owenduff Bog, western Europe's largest expanse of active peatland at 117.79 square kilometres.   

The park's highest point is located at the peak of Slieve Carr at 721 meters high.

The park is also served by the villages of Bangor, Ballycroy, Mallaranny and Newport,  the 29 kilometer Bangor Trail walking path and a newly opened visitor centre located in Ballycroy.

ADDRESS - Lagduff More, Ballycroy, Westport, County Mayo. 

TELEPHONE - 098 499 96.

WEBSITE - www.ballycroynationalpark.ie.

 

CONNEMARA NATIONAL PARK 

The Connemara National Park is located in County Galway, covers an area of  30 square kilometers and was designated with national park status in 1990. 

The park consists of  three thousand hectares of blanket bog, heathland and grassland all of which is home to great swathes of purple moorgrass and woodland which are bordered by several quartzite peaks of over 700 meters high to it’s south east and the grounds of the nineteenth century former Benedictine monastery, Kylemore Abbey, to it’s north.

The park has become a haven for wildlife where it is home to several species of raptor and large herds of the area’s indigenous pony, the Connemara Pony. 

The park’s highest elevation is located on the peak of Diamond Hill at 442 meters high.

The park is served by several ancient settlements, megalithic tombs, a Victorian graveyard, four walking trails and a visitor centre which provides visitors with a café, playground and free car parking. 

ADDRESS – Letterfrack, County Galway.

TELEPHONE – 095 41054.

WEBSITE - www.connemaranationalpark.ie.

KYLEMORE ABBEY - www.kylemoreabbeytourism.ie.

GLENVEAGH NATIONAL PARK

The Glenveagh National Park is located in County Donegal, covers an area of 170 square kilometers and was designated with national park status in 1984.

The park consists of 16,000 hectares of remote mountain wilderness located in the Derryveagh Mountains of north west Ireland.

The park also covers great swathes of low lying grassland which borders the 2.61 kilometer Lough Veagh, a large lake which is fed by the waters of the Owenbeagh and Owencarrow rivers.

The park’s varied wildlife  also consists of Ireland’s largest red deer herd and an ever increasing community of golden eagles. 

The Derryveagh Mountain’s highest point is Errigal, a 750 meter high quartzite peak. 

The park is also served by the nineteenth century Glenveagh Castle and gardens, six walking trails and a visitor centre. 

  

ADDRESS – Churchhill, Letterkenny, County Donegal

TELEPHONE – 076 1002536.

WEBSITE - www.glenveaghnationalpark.ie.

 

 

KILLARNEY NATIONAL PARK

The Killarney National Park is located in County Kerry, covers an area of 105 square kilometers and was designated with national park status in 1932, making it Ireland's oldest national park.

The park consists of several thousand hectares of native oak woods, yew woods, bogland, heathland, lakes and islands, all of which nestle along the foothills of the one thousand meter high, McGillycuddy Reeks, Ireland’s highest mountain range.

The park is served by the Bourn Vincent Memorial Park, the nineteenth century Muckross House and gardens, the seventeenth century Ross Castle, the fifteenth century Muckross Abbey, the seventeenth century Dinis Cottage, Knockreer House, a twentieth century manor house which now contains the park’s education centre and Killarney House, which is not open to the public. 

The park provides it’s visitors with forty kilometers of roadways, seventy kilometers of walking trails, boat rides, pony trekking, mountain climbing and orienteering.

For the less energetic of us the park also provides four tea rooms, a restaurant, a craft shop, a garden centre, twenty four acres of landscaped gardens and a library.

ADDRESS – Muckross, Killarney, County Kerry.

TELEPHONE – 064 6631440.

WEBSITE -  www.killarneynationalpark.ie.

THE BURREN NATIONAL PARK

The Burren National Park is located in County Clare, covers an area of 15 square kilometers, making it Ireland's smallest national park, and was designated with national park status in 1991. 

The Burren is a ten thousand year old, two hundred meter high, limestone ridge which covers an area of over two hundred and fifty square kilometers of carboniferous limestone situated along Ireland’s west coast.

The area is home to Europe’s largest glacio-karst environment and it’s national park is a 1,500 hectare karst landscape of calcerous grassland, hazel and ash woodlands, lakes, springs, limestone cliffs and limestone pavement, which between them have become home to over seven hundred rare species of Ireland’s plantlife, which has led to the whole area becoming designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

The park is also home to the villages of Glenquin, Knockaunroe, Cooloorta, Creehaun, Corofin and Killinaboy and provides visitors with five walking trails and a visitor centre.

ADDRESS – Clare Heritage Centre, Church Street, Corofin, County Clare.

TELEPHONE – 065 6827693.

WEBSITE - www.burrennationalpark.ie.

 

THE WICKLOW MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK 

The Wicklow Mountains National Park is located in County Wicklow, covers an area of 205 square kilometers, making it Ireland's largest national park, and was designated with national park status in 1991. 

The park, which consists of  over fifty thousand acres of blanket bog, woodland, grassland, heathland and exposed rocks and scree, is located on the west coast of Ireland just a few miles south of it’s capital city, Dublin.

The Wicklow Mountains themselves are a mix of granite and quartzite peaks, the highest of which is Lugnaquilla at 925 meters above sea level, which form part of the British Isles’ largest continuous area of granite rock.

The park is also home to Ireland’s highest waterfall, Powerscourt Waterfall, with a drop of  121 meters and the Avoca, Dargle, Liffey and Slaney rivers.

The area’s uplands are covered in both deciduous and coniferous forests which between them have been designated a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and a Special Protection Area (SPA) owing to the area’s biodiversity. 

The park is also home to Glendalough, a two kilometer long valley located between two lakes which was once the home of a sixth century monastic village. The valley is home to several ancient monuments and historical sites from this period and is also served by it’s own visitor centre and several walking trails.

The park is also served by several small towns and villages, nine walking trails, various nature trails and a visitor centre.

ADDRESS – Kilafin, Laragh, Via Bray, County Wicklow.

TELEPHONE – 0761 002667. 

WEBSITE - www.wicklowmountainsnationalpark.ie.

GLENDALOUGH - www.glendalough.ie.  

Lest We Forget - Why We Wear The Poppy

Every November people can be seen wearing poppies. These poppies are worn to honour and remember the fallen soldiers of conflict, but why do we honour our war dead by way of wearing this particular flower?   

Flanders is an area of western Belgium which was completely destroyed during World War One. In an area once vibrant with people tending their crops and living in the surrounding villages and farmhouses nothing remained, except for the humble poppy.

The poppy is a strange plant as it's seeds can lie dormant in the soil for years before making an appearance, but after the disturbance of the soil in the fields of Flanders after the many bitter battles which were fought there, the poppies began to germinate and grow.

During the battle of Ypres in May of 1915 a young artillery officer called Alexis Helmer was killed. His death was  witnessed by Canadian military doctor, John McCrae, who was so moved by the sight of his dead friend that he wrote the poem ' In Flander's Fields', right after the soldier's funeral.

The poem would later be published in the British magazine, Punch, in December of the same year.   

IN FLANDER'S FIELDS.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Colonel John McCrae, 1918.

After it's publication the poem was seen by American professor Moina Michael, who was so moved by what she read that she too was inspired to write a poem in reply. 

In her poem, ' We shall keep the faith'  she promised to remember the war dead of Flanders by way of wearing a poppy on her lapel and spent many years tirelessly campaigning for others to do the same. 
  

WE SHALL KEEP THE FAITH.

Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,

Sleep sweet - to rise anew!

We caught the torch you threw

And holding high, we keep the Faith

With All who died.

We cherish, too, the poppy red

That grows on fields where valor led;

It seems to signal to the skies

That blood of heroes never dies,

But lends a lustre to the red

Of the flower that blooms above the dead

In Flanders Fields.

And now the Torch and Poppy Red

We wear in honor of our dead.

Fear not that ye have died for naught;

We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought

In Flanders Fields.

Moina Michael, 1919. 

Generally people wear the poppy on their left lapel, to signify being near their heart, but there is actually a formal way to wear them. Men should wear them on their left lapel to imitate the position of war medals and women should wear them on their right lapel to imitate the position they could wear their husband's medals.

Some people can be seen wearing white poppies. These people are known as pacifists and wear the white poppy in order to show their disdain for war whilst still honouring the fallen. 

Some poppies are manufactured with leaves and some are not.These leafless poppies are made solely to save money, so that the money raised by the selling of the poppies goes to the various veteran's charities they are sold for, rather than the businesses which make them.  

The World War One armistice agreement was signed by representatives of France, Germany and Great Britain in a railway carriage in the Forest Of Compiegne in northern France. 

The world's first official observance of Armistice Day was held at 11 o'clock at Buckingham Palace in London on the 11th of November, 1919. The service remembered the signing of the armistice (the end of all military fighting), which was officiated at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918. 

This day has gone on to be known as Armistice Day, Poppy Day, Veterans Day or Remembrance Day and is honoured to this day by way of services held on the Sunday nearest that date. 

Public remembrance services were first held in Great Britain in 1920 after the construction of the Cenotaph memorial in Whitehall in London. The cenotaph, which is made from Portland Stone and was designed by architect Edwin Lutyens, was unveiled on the 11^th of November 1920 and replaced a former temporary one, also designed by Lutyens, which went on to be replicated in towns and villages all over the country.

Since 1939, which heralded the start of the Second World War, the 11th of November has been remembered by way of observing a two minute silence at eleven o'clock. The first minute remembers the twenty million people who lost their lives in the war, be they military personnel or civilians, and the second minute is dedicated to the survivors of the war who were directly affected by any of those twenty million deaths. 

The Armistice Day which signalled the end of the Second World War in Europe was signed on the 8^th of May 1945 after Germany surrendered on the 28^th of April, although a small German resistance group kept up hostilities in modern day Czech Republic until the 11^th of May.

The end of the war in Europe was known as VE Day, which is an acronym for victory in Europe and although it is not treated with the same reverance as November the 11^th it is also remembered by way of wreath laying and services. 

In the United States, Armistice Day is known as Veteran’s Day and honours all soldiers, be they living or fallen. This day is not to be confused with America’s Memorial Day, which is an annual holiday held at the end of May which honours the dead of the American Civil War.

In France, Belgium and Serbia, Armistice Day / November 11th is remembered by way of a public holiday.

The end of the Second World War in Asia was marked by the surrender of Japan on the 15^th of August 1945.  

England's Top Twenty Most Unusual Museums

 

England is awash with museums, many of which are just exhibits full of the usual historical stuff we've all seen a hundred times before.

This inspired me to track down some of the country's more unusual exhibits and collections, the top twenty of which are described below;

 

CIRCUS MUSEUM

Wookey Hole Caves, Wells, Somerset, BA5 1BB.

 

Housed in part of the awesome Wookey Hole cave complex located in Somerset, which is in it’s self a must see due to it's extensive cave system, hand made paper mill, cheese factory, Victorian penny arcade and resident witch, this colourful sideline, which was founded by former circus great Gerry Cottle, displays hundreds of circus artefacts as well as putting on a circus show and running a children's circus skills school. 

You can access the museum's website at - www.wookey.co.uk

 

CHOCOLATE MUSEUM

187, Ferndale Road, Brixton, London, SW9 8BA. 

This south London museum, which pays homage to the fine art of chocolate making, displays several beautifully hand crafted works of chocolate art, a collection of 18^th century chocolate making tools and provides a daily exhibit of artesan chocolate making. 

You can check out the museum's website by visiting - http://thechocolatemuseum.co.uk

DENTAL MUSEUM

64, Wimpole Street, London W1G 8YS. 

The idea of the British Dental Association museum would send shivers up most people's spines, but it is actually a very interesting and gratifying museum to visit, if only to make us all so very grateful as to how well dentistry has evolved over the years.

The museum is part of London's vast Museum of Health and Medicine and can be found in the City of Westminster’s, Wimpole Street.

The museum's website can be found by visiting - www.medicalmuseums.org/British-Dental-Association-Museum

.

DOG COLLAR MUSEUM

Leeds Castle, Maidstone, Kent, ME17 1PL. 

After visiting this tweflth century castle and it’s beautiful lakeside gardens a Goth's paradise awaits you in the form of  this unique, five hundred year old collection of the world's largest display of both human and dog collars. 

You can visit the museum's website by visiting - www.leeds-castle.com/The+Dog+Collar+Museum

 

 

FOUNDLING HOSPITAL MUSEUM 

40, Brunswick Square, London, WC1N 1 AZ.

I defy anyone to enter this building and come out with a dry eye. This oh so sad former children’s home, known as a foundling hospital, explains, by way of several exhibits and artefacts, how Victorian England coped with the offspring of single women, many of whom were forcibly removed from them, and other unwanted or orphaned children. 

You can access the museum’s website by visiting - http://foundlingmuseum.org.uk

  

HAT MUSEUM

Wellington Mill, Stockport, Cheshire, SK3 OEU.  

Home to a re-created Victorian hat factory and a display of over four hundred hats from around the world, Stockport’s Hat Museum also takes you through the city’s once thriving millinary industry by way of several interactive displays the whole family can indulge in.

You can access the museum’s website by visiting - www.stockport.gov.uk/hatworks 

 

  

JAIL MUSEUM

Littledean, Cinderford, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, GL14 3NL.

There are several excellent jail museums around the country but I vote this my favourite owing to it’s many diverse exhibits on everything from the history of the British Police Force to Albert Pierrepoint, from the Klu Klux Klan to the Kray Twins and much, much more.

If you love a bit of intrigue, scandal or mayhem and murder, this 18^th century former house of correction is definitely the one for you.

You can access the musem’s website by visiting - www.littledeanjail.com

  

LAWN MOWER MUSEUM

Shakespeare Street, Southport, PR8 5AJ. 

Housed in a High Street lawn mower sales and parts business, this rare and interesting museum takes you through the history of the lawn mower by way of hundreds of exhibits dating from the Victorian and Edwardian periods.

You can check out the museum’s website by visiting - www.lawnmowerworld.co.uk

LOCK & KEY MUSEUM

The Locksmith's House, 54 New Road, Willenhall, West Mdlands.

 

Located in part of the Black Country Living Museum, in it's self well worth a visit owing to it's re-created Victorian shops and businesses, this quaint, former lock smith's house has to be pre-booked before you can indulge in a guided tour around it.(Ring  0121 520 8054). Then you can check out the history of locks and keys and marvel at how how they have evolved into what we use today.

You can access the museum's website at - www.bclm.co.uk

 

OPERATING THEATRE MUSEUM

9a, St Thomas Street, London SE1 9RY. 

Another of London's superb medical museums is the Operating Theatre Museum located on St Thomas Street near London Bridge. This chilling 19th century operating theatre is located in the roof of a church and is also home to a really interesting, three hundred year old herb garret. 

You can see the museum's website at - www.medicalmuseums.org/Old-Operating-Theatre-and-Herb-Garret

 

PEDAL CAR MUSEUM

Old Blue Mill, Backbarrow, Ulverston, Cumbria, LA12 8TA..

Housed in a former cotton mill on the southern shore of Lake Windemere and making up part of Cumbria’s Lakeland Motor Museum, this vast collection of pedal cars, and several real cars too, is a definite must see for petrol heads of all ages. 

You can access the museum's website by visiting - www.lakelandmotormuseum.co.uk/pedalcars

  

PENCIL MUSEUM

Main Street, Keswick, Cumbria, CA12 5NG.  

Yes a pencil museum, can't get any more boring than that eh? But no this museum, located in the beautiful Cumbrian town of Keswick, actually proved to be great fun and really rather interesting.

Go on give it a try next time your Keswick way.

You can check out the museum's website by visiting - www.pencilmuseum.co.uk

PRAM MUSEUM

The Baby Farm, Pailton, Rugby, Warwickshire, CV23 OQH.

Founded in the 1970's by former radio engineer Jack Hampshire, this vast collection of prams, push chairs and other baby carriages is a definite must see, if only to check out which type of carriage you yourself were being pushed around in during your early days.

You can access the museum's website at - www.thebabyfarm.co.uk

SHOE MUSEUM

Guildhall Road, Northampton, NN1 1DP. 

 

Northampton's boot and shoe museum is located in part of the city's Museum and Art Gallery and charts the city's iconic cobbling history as well as displaying the world's largest collection of boots and shoes from around the globe. 

You can check out the museum's website at - www.northampton.gov.uk/museums

TILE MUSEUM

The Jackfield Museum, Salthouse Road, Telford, Shropshire, TF8 7LJ.

The Jackfield is one of the ten museums which make up the superb Ironbridge Gorge collection of museums.

Located at Telford this particular museum has several rooms where the visitor can interact with the history of tile making, including one where the visitor can design and make their own tiles. 

If craft making isn’t your thing you can always take a leisurely stroll around the museum taking in the beauty of the many historic tiles on display. 

You can access the museum website by visiting - www.ironbridge.org.uk/our-attractions/jackfield-tile-museum

 

TOILET MUSEUM

Gladstone Pottery, Uttoxeter Road, Longton, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, ST3 1PQ. 

Located in Britain's iconic home of ceramics, Stoke on Trent, this museum is well worth a visit owing to the ingenious mechanism of the early days of the toilet and to see some of the beautiful Victorian toilets it has on display. 

In fact the museum as a whole is a totally facinating place as it take's the visitor through the rise of the city's vast pottery (and potty) making industry.

You can check out the museum's website at - www.stokemuseums.org.uk

VACUUM CLEANER MUSEUM

23, Market Street, Heanor, Derbyshire, DE75 7NR. 

Located in an ordinary High Street vacuum sales and repair shop, this large collection of vacuum cleaners isn’t the most facinating place you’ll ever see, but it's still well worth a visit if only for the nostalgic trip down memory lane that it will undoubtedly instill in all of you. 

You can visit the shop's website at - www.mrvacuumcleaner.co.uk 

WATERWAYS MUSEUM

South Pier Road, Ellesmere Port, Wirral, CH65 4FW.

Housed in several Victorian buildings located where the Manchester Ship Canal meets the Shropshire Union Canal, visitors are able to chart the history and culture of this once thriving way of life at this interesting and very well presented canal and waterways museum located on the Wirral Peninsular.

Visitors can also see a variety of former working canal boats or take an informative canal boat ride along the Shropshire Union Canal.  

You can access the museum’s website by visiting - https://canalrivertrust.org.uk

WITCHCRAFT MUSEUM

The Harbour, Boscastle, Cornwall, PL35 OHD. 

Located in one of Cornwall's most beautiful harbour villages, infamous for the flash flood which devastated it in 2004, this spooky hall of delights take’s the visitor through Europe’s history of witches, witchcraft and spells by way of several very interesting exhibits and artefacts.

Definitely a must see next time you're visiting Cornwall's north coast.

You can check out the museum's website by visiting - www.museumofwitchcraft.com

WORKHOUSE MUSEUM

75, Allhallowgate, Ripon, Yorkshire, HG4 1LE.

Guaranteed to bring a tear to the eye this former 19^th century workhouse shows the visitor exactly what it was like to be a pauper down on his luck in Victorian England. 

Shown around by costumed guides you can relive the horrors and pain of those who lived during this much less forgiving time. 

This workhouse museum is one of a group of three museums in the town which also include a courthouse museum and and a prison museum

You can access the museum’s website by visiting - http://riponmuseums.co.uk