An island in the Atlantic
This island on the edge of Europe is bathed by the Atlantic Ocean and separated from Great Britain by the Irish Sea and from the European mainland by the Celtic Sea. The whole island of Ireland has a total surface area of 84,421 km². Ireland is made up of 4 provinces:Ulster, Connacht, Munster and Leinster. Each province is divided into counties; 32 on the whole island, politically into the Republic of Ireland (26 counties) and Northern Ireland (6 counties of Ulster).
The island of Ireland has a coastline of 7,500 km, of which 3,164 km are classified as soft and susceptible to short-term erosive processes. The ocean has sculpted its rugged coastline. Along its coasts, veritable stone lace, are numerous islands, peninsulas and promontories. Breathtaking landscapes such as the Cliffsof Moher or Giant's Cause way, but also small coves accessible on foot or jagged coastal landscapes such as those of the Dingle Peninsula. To explore all this more easily, there's a fully signposted 2,600 km route from Cork (South) to Derry (North), with must-sees, to discover the entire West Coast: the Wild Atlantic Way.
An omnipresent ocean, but a country of fresh water
While the ocean is omnipresent, Ireland is also a land of freshwater. As the song poetically puts it, Ireland "is lakes, rivers..." Rivers meander from lake to lake. There are 12,000 of them in Ireland. Lough Neagh is the largest lake in the Anglo-Celtic Islands (also known as the British Isles or Great Britain and Ireland). It is 30 km long, 15 km wide and 25 m deep. It's also the fishing ground for wild eels with the European "appellation contrôlée": the eels of Neagh, a special delicacy that must be enjoyed sparingly, as the eels' reproductive cycle is particularly long and delicate.
This fish travels thousands of kilometers to reproduce in the Sargasso Sea. What we know so far: eel larvae allow themselves to be carried by the Gulf Stream, but as global temperatures change, so does the Gulf Stream. This change could alter the eels' trajectory, or even prevent their growth. What will happen to Ireland's climate?
There are as many landscapes as there are lakes. Gougane Barra, with its oratory on the shore, is a special place. As the day progresses, the lake's atmosphere changes: its mysterious morning mist, its limpid mirror in full sunshine and its blazing sunsets. From another lake, a lively torrent escapes to become Ireland's smallest river.
The Shannon, a long quiet river and the Corrib, a small tumultuous one?
The island is crossed by a long, tranquil, or at least navigable, river. The Shannon, at 286 km including a 113 km estuary, is the longest river in Ireland and the Anglo-Celtic Isles. The Shannon flows south from County Cavan, where it rises at Shannon Pot or Legnashinna. It is a naturally fluctuating basin in the karst landscape at Derrylahan near Mount Cuilcagh. The Shannon flows slowly into the Atlantic just south of Limerick. Sailing on the river is very pleasant, and leisure boating is perfectly organized.
This is not the only river on the island; there are 70,000 km of navigable waterways in the Republic of Ireland, divided into over 3,000 watercourses, including rivers, streams and tributaries. Some of Ireland's other major rivers: the Liffey, which flows into the Irish Sea at Dublin; the River Lagan, which creates a large estuary at Belfast as it flows into the Atlantic; the Lee at Cork, which originated from the lively torrent escaping from Gougane Barra Lough. The River Foyle, which flows through Derry, is the fastest-flowing river in Europe for its size. It flows into the ocean via Lake Foyle, a magical sight at sunset. Ireland's smallest river, the Corrib, rushes through Galway before emptying into the ocean in just 6 km. Small but mighty, just watch it roll on after a rainy day. It is also home to a large number of wild salmon returning to the lakes of Connemara, where it is the gateway for these singular fish.
A plain heart surrounded by mountains
Another of Ireland's characteristic landscapes are the large, low, waterlogged central plains, the bogs, the bogland, the peatlands, surrounded by mountains. A very special landscape, created very slowly, which preserves all of Ireland's geological history, as well as objects that help to tell its story.
The highest peak, Carrauntuohill (Irish: Corrán Tuathail), rises to 1,041 m in Kerry (Killarney, Kenmare). It's sometimes overlooked in favor of another Irish peak, much lower at just 764 m, but still legendary: Croagh Patrick, known locally as the Reek, which is the object of a pilgrimage. The place is sacred, as it is said to have been the site of a 40-day fast by St. Patrick in 441. Some 40,000 pilgrims, most of them Irish, make the trek to the summit every year. The hike on the last Sunday in July is more religious. There are still many people who come to meditate on the slopes of this mountain and in the chapel at the summit.
From Murrisk, the ascent is quite difficult, especially the last stage at the finish. You need to be well equipped and allow at least 5 hours for the round trip. Beware of the weather: you can get lost in the fog. At the summit, the view over Connemara and Achill Island is breathtaking.
A long geological history
The landscape of Ireland has been sculpted over five geological eras. Slieve League, the 606 m cliff that plunges into the ocean in Donegal, is a fine example of early Irish rock formation. The oldest known Irish rock is about 1.7 billion years old and is found on the island of Inishtrahull. By studying the rocks and fossils, scientists have been able to create a geological map of the island.
600 million years ago, at the end of the Precambrian era, the island continent was split in two, and the fossils found at Bray Head prove that Ireland was below sea level at that time.
Over the next 50 million years, these two parts drifted towards each other, finally coming together about 440 million years ago. It is still by comparing the fossils discovered near Clogher Head, Lough, that the resemblance of the fauna of the two sides of the ocean which had previously separated was noted. It was at the time of the upheaval and folding caused by the reunion of the two parts that the mountains of northwestern Ireland were raised, as well as the granite that we notice in Donegal and Wicklow.
Ireland is again above sea level and near the equator. Fossil evidence of life such as the fossilized trees at Kiltorcan, County Kilkenny, the widespread fossils of bony fish and freshwater mussels, and prints of a four-legged amphibian preserved in the slate of Valentia Island, County Kerry. The ancient red sandstone was also formed during this time.
During the next era, 400 and 300 million years ago, Ireland sank beneath a warm, calcium-rich sea and was covered by large coral reefs that form the limestone that today still makes up about 65% of the island's rocky mantle. Tropical forests and swamps flourished as the water receded and the remains of the plants became coal. This period, known as the Carboniferous Era, resulted in a new movement and Ireland drifted further north, causing a new pressure that gave rise to the Irish range of mountains and hills that runs from the northeast to the southwest.
Time has shaped landscapes of giants
It was at this time that most of the coal and sandstone was eroded, along with the thinner layers of limestone in the south of the country.
Soon after this period, the organic debris in the seas surrounding Ireland decomposed to form the gas and oil deposits that today play an important role in the island's economy. Then, around 150 million years ago, Ireland was once again submerged, this time in a limestone sea, resulting in the formation of chalk over much of its surface. Traces of this remain under the basaltic lava found in parts of the north.
Around 65 million years ago, volcanic activity began, leading to the formation of the Mourne Mountains and other mountains in the north of the island. At that time, climatic conditions were warm and vegetation flourished. Vegetation debris in the Antrim Depression formed deposits of lignite or brown coal that remain intact to this day. Warm conditions produced heavy rainfall, accelerating erosion processes and the formation of karst landscapes and the stunning landscape of Giant's Causeway. Molten basalt erupted through the weakened chalk to form a lava lake. It was the steady loss of heat and moisture that caused the strangely regular cracks in the volcanic material that gave rise to this spectacular site.
25 million years ago, a long period of erosion led to the formation of soils that largely covered the bedrock. In well-drained areas, the cover was enriched with brown or grey soils, while in poorly drained areas, black clay dominated. As the climate cooled, soil formation slowed, and flora and fauna that millions of years later would be familiar to the first human inhabitants began to appear. Around three million years ago, the landscape of Ireland was much as it is today.
And in the middle there was a glacier!
The impact of ice on the landscape is still evident. We owe to it the great valleys such as Glendalough in Wicklow, the corries, majestic cirques, lakes, drumlins and eskers, all distinctive features of the Irish landscape. Drumlins were created by the deposition of mounds of debris under the melting ice. Streams have also formed under the ice, and the material deposited by them has formed eskers.
The largest of these, the Esker Riada, which literally cuts the northern and southern halves of the island, has always been a communication route. Its crest once served as the main road linking the east and west coasts, and is sometimes referred to by historians and guidebooks as the freeway of the Middle Ages. The Esker Riada is a series of eskers running through the counties of Dublin, Meath, Kildare, Westmeath, Offaly, Leitrim, Longford, Roscommon and Galway. A vast esker remnant exists in the Teernacreeve area of Westmeath, and stretches from Kilbeggan to Tyrrellspass, offering singular landscapes. It's one of the finest and longest (5 km) examples of a wooded esker in Ireland, and the wildlife is exceptional. As Moustaki sings, "L'Irlande, [...] c'est un chemin qui chemine, une pierre, c'est le souffle du vent au sommet des collines, c'est la magpie qui jacasse, c'est l'averse qui verse des torrents d'allégresse..."
