Data Zone
Country/territory: Ireland
IBA criteria met: B3 (2009)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 4,000 ha
Site description (2000 baseline)
A long, sinuous stretch of semi-natural, lowland wet grassland (callows) alongside the River Suck, in Counties Galway and Roscommon. This site extends for 50 km from Castlecoote in the north to Shannonbridge in the south where it meets the River Shannon callows (site 131). The callows are seasonally flooded between October and April. The area is flanked by raised bogs, many of which have been converted to agricultural use following peat extraction.
Key biodiversity
This is an important site for wintering waterfowl. Additional species wintering in numbers of national importance include Anas penelope (1,351 birds, 1995) and Vanellus vanellus (3,282 birds, 1995). Crex crex was breeding until recently (1 pair, 1993).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: River Suck callows: Shannon Bridge-Castlecoote (Ireland). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/river-suck-callows:-shannon-bridge-castlecoote-iba-ireland on 22/11/2024.