Current view: Text account
Site description (2009 baseline):
Site location and context
Two formerly inhabited islands of Inishsirrer & Inishmeane, lying 1-2 km offshore and 6 km north of Bunbeg in County Donegal. Information on land-use and threats is incomplete. Since the 2009 inventory, this complex has been extended to include Gola & Owey Islands, and a small section on the eastern side of the Carrickfin (mainland) peninsula, with a mix of meadow and pasture, where farming is very marginal, so threats to corncrake survival from mowing reduced. Numbers have the potential to expand with appropriate habitat management.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Mink have been observed to take young corncrakes on Gola. Main threats include abandonment/reduction of land management and animal/plant introductions
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
There has been sporadic habitat management to create more early cover and cut abandoned meadows in some years.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Inishsirrer, Inishmeane, Gola and Owey Islands (Ireland). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/inishsirrer-inishmeane-gola-and-owey-islands-iba-ireland on 23/11/2024.
