• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Map
• Reference and further resources

Site description (2000 baseline)
Located 20 km south of Dublin city, this site encompasses the upland areas of Counties Wicklow and Dublin. It comprises broad granite domes interspersed with pinnacled tops, rocky foothills, deep glens, numerous rivers and streams, and several lakes. Much of the area is a mosaic of heath, blanket bog and upland grassland, with stands of bracken and pockets of woodland. Poulaphouca reservoir, included within this site in the previous pan-European inventory (Grimmett and Jones 1989), is now treated separately (site 107). Land-uses include peat-cutting (which is also a potential threat), forestry and recreation (due to the close proximity of Dublin).

Key biodiversity
The nationally scarce Falco columbarius and F. peregrinus as well as Lagopus lagopus breed within the extensive areas of bog and moorland. This is also one of the most important sites in Ireland for Phoenicurus phoenicurus (50 pairs, 1996), which breed in the Quercus woodlands, and for Turdus torquatus (20 pairs, 1996), which breed in open, rocky areas.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Wicklow Mountains (Ireland). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/wicklow-mountains-iba-ireland on 23/12/2024.