Burren National Park

      learn to dive to dive in the burren

 We love to dive along the Burren in co Clare Ireland it is beautiful above and bellow the water the limestone features continue from the sure to lovely reef just off the coast.

The word "Burren" comes from an Irish word "Boíreann" meaning a rocky place. This is an extremely appropriate name when you consider the lack of soil cover and the extent of exposed Limestone Pavement. However it has been referred to in the past as "Fertile rock" due to the mixture of nutrient rich herb and floral species.

                                  The Barren National Park

is located in the southeaster corner of the Burren and is approximately 1500 hectares in size. The Park land was bought by the Government for nature conservation and public access. It contains examples of all the major habitats within the Barren: Limestone Pavement, Calcareous grassland, Hazel scrub, Ash/hazel woodland, Turloughs, Lakes, Petrifying springs, cliffs and Fen.

The highest point in the park is Knockanes (207 metres) which continues as a curving terraced ridge to Mullaghmór to the south. East of this ridge is an area of extensive, low lying limestone pavement containing a number of semi-permanent lakes. West of this ridge the pavement sweeps down to partially drift-covered ground which gradually rises again to reach the foot of a rocky escarpment. To the south of the park the limestone bedrock disappears under a layer of glacial till. This till area is far more intensively managed for pasture and silage.

                                      Habitats

A quick glance at the Burren would leave you thinking it was just rock and little else. This however, is a very complex ecosystem. The habitats within the Park grade into one another, and often are inseparable, creating a mosaic of habitats that are hard to isolate. For example limestone pavement is often inter mixed with calcareous grassland and hazel scrub, or ash woodland on limestone pavement. All the major Burren habitats are represented within the park. Approximately 75% of plant species found in Ireland are represented within the habitats of the Burren. Included among these are 23 of Ireland's 27 native orchid species.

                          Limestone pavement

Limestone pavement has become almost synonymous with the Burren and covers most of the National Park, although, as mentioned above, usually in a mosaic with other habitats. The pavement may be of either a smooth or shattered type.

The smooth limestone pavement areas consist of clints and grykes. The clints are the slab like flat surface areas of the pavement and the grykes are the fissured cracks that dissect the clints.

The grykes provide shelter for the soil to accumulate and also shelter from the wind. The thin soils that accumulate in the grykes provide just enough anchorage and nutrients to host a large diversity of plant species. Within the grykes you can find shade tolerant plants such as ivy and hearts tongue fern also a variety of other species such as Bloody Cranes-bill, Wall Lettuce, Wall-rue and Rue-leaved Saxifrage to name just a few.

Also found eaking out an existence in the grykes are woody plants such as, Ash, Blackthorn, Holly, Buckthorn and Whitethorn. These are stunted like a bonsai due to the lack of space for the roots and also due to a lack of nutrients, water and soil. The wind, along with grazing, also plays a part in keeping these plants and trees at a low level, searching out shelter at ground level.

The clints are pitted with solutional hollows and runnels that provide enough shelter and water for mosses and alga's to survive. A blue-green alga known as Nostoc can be found in these pools. Nostoc absorbs water forming gelatinous algae. However when the pools dry up it drys out to form a paper like substance. Nostoc secretes an enzyme into the pools which increases the acidity of the water therefore increasing the erosion within the pools.

On the shattered limestone, grykes are less frequent and plant life therefore is sparse, however if you look close many species thrive in these conditions. Burnet Rose, Wood Sage, Dark Red Helleborine, Hazel, Juniper, Yew and Blackthorn are all making this habitat their own. Again wind, soil and water are all limiting factors in their growth. Goats especially, also graze yew and Ash. Another anomaly of these pavement areas is the ability of woodland plants like Wood Sage to thrive out in the open without any

Scuba diving all around the burren coast line is the best diving in ireland