A tight group of small, flat, uninhabited islets, located 3.5 km off Dawros Head in County Donegal. Much of the site is sparsely vegetated with the exception of the main island Roaninish, which is covered in lush maritime grassland, and has two small ponds.
Key biodiversity
This is an important site for breeding seabirds; species present in numbers of national importance are Larus marinus (60 birds, 1984) and Larus argentatus (200 birds, 1984). In the past the site has been important for wintering Branta leucopsis (250 birds, pre-1987) but not in recent years.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
There is no precise information on threats, although fishing in surrounding waters may deplete the prey stock of seabirds, with implications for their breeding success. The site is a proposed (by NPW) Special Protection Area (Roaninish, 144 ha).
