Visit Connemara National Park and enjoy the mountains, walks, history, fauna, flora, and spectacular vistas that open up around every copse and over every hillock. The panaromic views from the top of The Diamond are the highlight of any holiday. DNFYC.

The Bard at the Bards Den in Connemara Hostel will give a Pint of Guinness and a Bowl of Homemade Seafood Chowder, to residents of Connemara Hostel at The Bards Den who present a current photo of themselves at the top of the Diamond. 

Flora                                                                                                                                                                        Western blanket bog and heathland are the predominant vegetation types to be found in the park. The boglands, situated in the lowlying areas, are normally very wet, while higher up the mountains, a drier community of mountain blanket bog developes. Heather covers the mountain sides, with ling, cross-leaved heath and bell heather all very common. Probably the most abundant plant in the Park is purple moor grass, responsible for the colour of much of the landscape throughout the year. Insectivorous plants form an integral part of the bog community. Sundews and butterworts trap and digest insects with their leaves to gain nutrients which are in short supply in the bog soil. Rare plant species from the colder areas of Europe and the Artic may be found high up in the mountains, such as roseroot, purple and starry saxifrages, lesser twayblade and mountain sorrel. Conversely, plants from Spain and Portugal are also found in the Park, notably pale butterwort, St Dabeoc`s heath, which is a member of the heather family and St Patricks cabbage.

Fauna                                                                                                                                                                              The Birdlife of the Park is varied. Meadow pipits, skylarks, stonechats, chaffinches, robins, and wrens are just some of the common songbirds in the Park. Birds of prey are often seen, usually kestrel and sparrowhawk, with merlin and peregrine falcon making regular visits. Winter brings an increase in the numbers in the Park of some species native to Ireland such as woodcock, snipe, starling, song thrush and mistle thrush, augmented by visitors from other parts of Ireland and abroad as well as winter migrants from northern Europe such as redwing and fieldfare. Rabbits, hares, foxes, stoats, shrews and bats are often observed. In recent years both pine martin and non native mink have been seen, the latter being a threat to native wildlife species. The largest mammals in the Park are the Connemara Pony and Red Deer both easily found, the ponies in the paddocks and the deer further afield in the Park.  

www.connemaranationalpark.ie