Connemara National Park
Connemara National Park boasts nearly 3000 hectares of mountains, bog, heath, grasslands and woodlands, including several peaks of the Twelve Bens. The Visitor Centre in Letterfrack offers audio-visual presentations of the park’s history, plants, and animals. Boardwalk paths make exploring Diamond Hill and the panoramas from the summit very accessible.
Birds
Birds in the park include meadow pipits, skylarks, stonechats, chaffinches, robins, and wrens, as well as kestrel, sparrowhawks, merlins and peregrine falcons. Winter brings larger numbers of snipe, woodcock, starling, song thrush, mistle thrush, redwing, and fieldfare.
Mammals
Mammals include rabbits, hares, stoats, foxes, shrews, bats, pine martin, mink, Connemara pony, and red deer.
Plants
Plants in the park range from ling, cross-leaved heath and bell heather to purple moor grass, sundews and butterworts, as well as roseroot, purple and starry saxifrages, lesser twayblade and mountain sorrel in the higher altitudes.
Admission to the Connemara National Park and parking are free. The park grounds are open year round, and the Visitor Centre and Tea Room are open daily from 9am-5.30pm, March to October.
Distance from The Bards Den: 1 minute walk.
