Sliabh Beagh

Sliabh Beagh are mountains which straddle the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, and specifically County Fermanagh, County Monaghan and County Tyrone. The point at which the three counties meet, which is also in the Sliabh Beagh, is referred to as "Three County Hollow".

Name

The name means "little mountains" in Irish, sometimes written as "Slieve Beagh" in English. In County Monaghan, the locals typically refer to the Sliabh Beagh as the "Bragan Mountains", taking the name from a townland within the Sliabh Beagh.

Features

The Sliabh Beagh region is primarily made up of blanket bog, with numerous lakes throughout. In Northern Ireland much of the Sliabh Beagh area has been designated as a Special Area of Conservation.

Tourism

The Sliabh Beagh Way is a 25 mile walk starting at St Patrick's Chair and Well in County Tyrone, passing through County Monaghan and finishing at Donagh in southeast Fermanagh. There are an additional 31 loop walks throughout the Sliabh Beagh region ranging from 2.5 miles to 12 miles.

Ramsar site

The Slieve Beagh Ramsar site (wetlands of international importance designated under the Ramsar Convention), is 1884.68 hectares in area, at Latitude 54 20 53 N and Longitude 07 11 38 W. It was designated a Ramsar site on 14 December 1999. The Ramsar site boundary coincides entirely with that of the Slieve Beagh Area of Special Scientific Interest and the Slieve Beagh Special Area of Conservation. The site qualified under Criterion 1 of the Ramsar Convention because it is a large and relatively intact example of a blanket bog and one of the best examples of this habitat in the United Kingdom. It also contains nationally important examples of transitional and alkaline fen and oligotrophic/mesotrophic lakes.cite web | title=Designated and Proposed Ramsar sites in Northern Ireland | work=Joint Nature Conservation Committee | url=http://www.jncc.gov.uk/pdf/RIS/UK12020.pdf | accessdate=2008-07-07]

The peatland features include occasional well developed hummock and lawn complexes, a few small localised pool complexes, as well as soakways and flushes. Vegetation is characterised by Sphagnum mosses and ericoid dwarf-shrubs. The peatland flora includes a number of rare and unusual species including Cowberryand the mosses "Sphagnum fuscum" and "Sphagnum imbricatum". There are several upland, base-poor lakes occur with aquatic mosses. The floating and marginal vegetation associated with these water bodies tends to be sparse and restricted, and consists of a scattered swamp and poor acid fen fringe. The area supports a breeding population of Red Grouse, as well as Eurasian Golden Plover and Hen Harrier.

The upland lakes support a species-poor but notable upland insect fauna. The Water beetle ("Agabus arcticus") and the water bug ("Callicorixa wollastoni") are common in the lakes and pools and the concentration of both species is the greatest recorded in Northern Ireland. The most notable species are found in the highest lake, Lough Sallagh, where the rare upland beetle "Potamonectes griseostriatus" and corixid "Glaenocorisa propinqua" are found. [cite web | title=Slieve Beagh Ramsar site | work=NI Environment Agency | url=http://www.ni-environment.gov.uk/biodiversity/designated-areas/ramsar/ramsar_slievebeag.htm | accessdate=2008-07-07]

References