Clarecastle and Ballyea's Wild Side by Jean Ryan

Cuckoo chick being fed. Photo by Robin Artur-Tabor

Introduction

The villages of Clarecastle & Ballyea and its surroundings are rich in biodiversity, even the Quay close to the centre of Clarecastle village, supports an abundance of wildlife and wildflowers that you would expect to find in the Burren.

Clarecastle & Ballyea contain a variety of landscapes, from limestone pavement & woodland visible in Ballybeg woods, exposed limestone at the Quay, limestone shoreline and woodland at Killone lake and the Estuary from the River Fergus which stretches from Clarecastle Quay all the way down to Islandavanna, where the River Fergus joins the River Shannon and the water flows out to the Atlantic Ocean. It is due to these different environments that there is such an abundance of Biodiversity.

Extract from Chapter 7 of Land and People 1 published by Clarecastle and Ballyea Heritage and Wildlife Group, 2014. Full chapter can be read below.