Broadhaven Bay ( ga, Cnocán na Líne) is a natural
bay of the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
on the northwestern coast of
County Mayo
County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...
, Ireland. The opening of the bay faces northward, stretching 8.6 km between
Erris Head
Erris Head (Irish: ''Ceann Iorrais'') is a promontory at the northernmost tip of the Mullet Peninsula, located in the barony of Erris in northwest County Mayo, Ireland. It is a well known and recognised landmark used by mariners and weather fo ...
in the west and Kid Island/Oileán Mionnán in the east.
It borders the parishes of
Kilcommon
Kilcommon ( ga, Cill Chomáin) is a civil parish in Erris, north Mayo consisting of two large peninsulas; Dún Chaocháin and Dún Chiortáin. It consists of 37 townlands, some of which are so remote that they have no inhabitants. Habitatio ...
,
Kiltane
Kiltane ( Irish: ''Cill tSéadhna'') is a parish in Erris, North County Mayo, Ireland.
Origins
Kiltane derives its name from Cill tSéadhna, or Seadhna's church, which was in the townland of Kiltane by the banks of the Owenmore River. The name ...
and
Kilmore Erris in the Barony of
Erris
Erris is a barony in northwestern County Mayo in Ireland consisting of over , much of which is mountainous blanket bog. It has extensive sea coasts along its west and north boundaries. The main towns are Belmullet and Bangor Erris. The name Er ...
. Landscape largely consists of Atlantic
blanket bog
Blanket bog or blanket mire, also known as featherbed bog, is an area of peatland, forming where there is a climate of high rainfall and a low level of evapotranspiration, allowing peat to develop not only in wet hollows but over large expanses o ...
interspersed with some areas of
machair
A machair (; sometimes machar in English) is a fertile low-lying grassy plain found on part of the northwest coastlines of Ireland and Scotland, in particular the Outer Hebrides. The best examples are found on North and South Uist, Harris an ...
and white sandy beaches. Population is relatively low, mainly concentrated around inlets along the coastline.
Special Area of Conservation
Broadhaven Bay was designated by the
National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, as a candidate
Special Area of Conservation
A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...
(cSAC) in 2000. This designation concerns:
#The presence of four key marine/coastal habitat types that are listed in Annex I of the EU Council Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Fauna and Flora (Habitats Directive: 92/43/EEC, 1982), including Atlantic salt marsh, tidal mudflats, reefs and large shallow bays;
#The presence of a number of unusual marine communities and species, and;
#The seasonal presence of wintering wildfowl and breeding terns (''Sterna'' spp.).
Furthermore, the inner parts of Broadhaven Bay known as
Sruwaddacon Bay
Sruwaddacon Bay () is a tidal estuary which runs through the middle of the Gaeltacht Kilcommon parish in Erris, County Mayo, Ireland. It is of historical importance in Irish legend, an important marine habitat, an E.U. Special Area of Conservatio ...
is designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA) and, together with the nearby
Glenamoy
Glenamoy () is a village on the R314 road in the parish of Kilcommon, Erris in the northern part of County Mayo in Ireland.
Topography
Glenamoy is a general term for the following townlands:
* Bellagelly North (''Béal a Ghoile'' meaning " ...
Bog complex SAC important for wintering wildfowl species, in particular for
brent geese
The brant or brent goose (''Branta bernicla'') is a small goose of the genus ''Branta''. There are three subspecies, all of which winter along temperate-zone sea-coasts and breed on the high-Arctic tundra.
The Brent oilfield was named after ...
, which is Annex II listed under the EU Birds directive.
History
During the
Spanish Armada
The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aris ...
era in the 16th century, several of the Armada ships floundered in the waters of North Mayo. The ''Santiago'' went down in the bay and many ships through the years have met their end in these waters. There are many tales of fortunes of gold and valuables being stashed away by local
pirates
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
after looting unfortunate ships which tried to take shelter from rough seas. See
Brian Rua U'Cearbhain
Brian Rua (c.1648–?) was 17th century "prophet" or Oracle from Erris in County Mayo, Ireland. Papers relating to the life and the prophecies of Brian Rua, known collectively as "''Tarngaireacht Bhriain Ruaidh''" were destroyed, apparently by h ...
In 1715 Sir Arthur Shaen, an English landlord in
Erris
Erris is a barony in northwestern County Mayo in Ireland consisting of over , much of which is mountainous blanket bog. It has extensive sea coasts along its west and north boundaries. The main towns are Belmullet and Bangor Erris. The name Er ...
, began building a small town on a wet and marshy area near the
Mullet Peninsula
The Mullet Peninsula ( ga, Leithinis an Mhuirthead)—also known as the Mullet (''an Mhuirthead'') and sometimes as the Erris Peninsula—is a peninsula in the barony of Erris in County Mayo, Ireland. As of 2016 it has a population of 3963. I ...
("The Mullet"). To drain this marshy area and to form a passageway from
Blacksod Bay
Blacksod Bay ( ga, Cuan an Fhóid Duibh) is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean in Erris, north County Mayo, Ireland. The long and wide bay is bounded on its western side by the Mullet Peninsula. Its eastern side includes Kiltane Parish, which ext ...
into Broadhaven Bay, Shaen had a
canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
excavated which would allow small boats to pass from one bay to the other. Development of the town, later to be
Belmullet
Belmullet (, IPA: bʲeːlənˠˈwʊɾˠhəd̪ˠ is a coastal Gaeltacht town with a population of 1,019 on the Mullet Peninsula in the barony (Ireland), barony of Erris, County Mayo, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the commercial and cul ...
, proved to be a slow process, and the canal was blocked and unusable by the mid-18th century. In 1845 the Government sanctioned a grant of £5,000 to match the total of £4,000 raised locally to re-open the canal which would unite Broadhaven and Blacksod Bays. Work on the canal began in 1845, but due to the
Irish Famine
The Great Famine ( ga, an Gorta Mór ), also known within Ireland as the Great Hunger or simply the Famine and outside Ireland as the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a h ...
which devastated the area, it was not completed until 1851. A report in 1851 states that the canal was being used extensively, and also states that the canal could be crossed by a swivel bridge.
Broadhaven Lighthouse
![Ballyglass Lighthouse](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Ballyglass_Lighthouse.jpg)
In the north western mouth of Broadhaven Bay stands
Broadhaven Lighthouse which guides boats through the bay in more recent times. The lifeboat for the area is stationed at Ballyglass pier.
There are many wonderful white sandy beaches all around the bay especially at
Carrowteige
Ceathrú Thaidhg (anglicized as Carrowteige) is a Gaeltacht village and townland on the Dún Chaocháin peninsula in northwestern County Mayo, Ireland. It is within Kilcommon (Cill Chomáin) parish in the barony of Erris. Carrowteige is a relati ...
/Rinroe,
Glengad
Glengad () is a Gaeltacht village in the parish of Kilcommon in northwest County Mayo, Ireland. It is also known as Dooncarton (), a name which comes from an Iron Age tribal chieftain called Ciortan, a character who appears in the Ulster Cycle l ...
and
Inver
Inver () is a small village in County Donegal, Ireland. It lies on the N56 National secondary road midway between Killybegs to the west and Donegal Town to the east. It is also a civil parish in the historic barony of Banagh.
History
Inver i ...
.
Wildlife
Cetaceans are afforded protection within the 200-mile Exclusive Fishery Zone limit of the Irish State under the 1976 Wildlife Act and a 1982 amendment to the Whale Fisheries Act.
Marine mammal legislation also protects all cetaceans as Annex IV species (species of community interest in need of strict protection) under the European Habitats directive.
Within this directive, there are five marine mammal species that are known to frequent Irish waters which are further listed as Annex II species (protected endangered and vulnerable animals), namely;
*
Common bottlenose dolphin
The common bottlenose dolphin or Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (''Tursiops truncatus'') is a wide-ranging marine mammal of the family Delphinidae. The common bottlenose dolphin is a very familiar dolphin due to the wide exposure it gets in captivi ...
(''Tursiops truncatus'')
*
Harbour porpoise
The harbour porpoise (''Phocoena phocoena'') is one of eight extant species of porpoise. It is one of the smallest species of cetacean. As its name implies, it stays close to coastal areas or river estuaries, and as such, is the most familiar ...
(''Phocoena phocoena'')
*
Gray seal
The grey seal (''Halichoerus grypus'') is found on both shores of the North Atlantic Ocean. In Latin Halichoerus grypus means "hook-nosed sea pig". It is a large seal of the family Phocidae, which are commonly referred to as "true seals" or " ...
(''Halichoerus grypus'')
* Harbour/
common seal
The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinnipeds, pinniped (walruses ...
(''Phoca vitulina vitulina'')
*
European otter
The Eurasian otter (''Lutra lutra''), also known as the European otter, Eurasian river otter, common otter, and Old World otter, is a semiaquatic mammal native to Eurasia. The most widely distributed member of the otter subfamily (Lutrinae) of th ...
(''Lutra lutra'')
All five species are found in the Broadhaven Bay catchment.
Stags of Broadhaven
![Na Stácaí ( The Stacks of Broadhaven)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Na_St%C3%A1ca%C3%AD_%28_The_Stacks_of_Broadhaven%29.jpg)
The Stags of Broadhaven (Irish: ''Na Stácaí'') are a group of five jagged rocky islands off the high cliffs of
Benwee Head of
Kilcommon
Kilcommon ( ga, Cill Chomáin) is a civil parish in Erris, north Mayo consisting of two large peninsulas; Dún Chaocháin and Dún Chiortáin. It consists of 37 townlands, some of which are so remote that they have no inhabitants. Habitatio ...
parish. Although only just over a mile from the mainland, they lie outside Co. Mayo. The islands include the central island Teach Dónal Ó’Cléirigh, the highest. To the south lies An Teach Mór. To the east is An Teach Beag. The fourth island is The Stags NW of centre, Carraig na Faola, NW of centre and An t-Oighean (78m). They rise out of the sea rising steeply to over 100 metres above sea level. The islands support puffin, Storm & Leach’s petrels. One of the rocks is entirely bisected by a long narrow cave dramatically from one side to the other and they are a popular site for visiting divers, sub aqua teams, canoeists and adventurers. The Stags were formerly grazed for about six weeks every summer until the 1960s.
Importance as a marine habitat
Broadhaven Bay is an important habitat for many marine mammals and other marine life as it incorporates several different coastal habitats ranging from exposed bedrock at the foot of the
Benwee Head cliffs due to constant wave action to sheltered mud sediments at the upper end of the estuary of
Sruth Fada Conn
Sruwaddacon Bay () is a tidal estuary which runs through the middle of the Gaeltacht Kilcommon parish in Erris, County Mayo, Ireland. It is of historical importance in Irish legend, an important marine habitat, an E.U. Special Area of Conservatio ...
Bay.
Encompassed within an area that is relatively small, Broadhaven Bay and its inlet,
Sruth Fada Conn
Sruwaddacon Bay () is a tidal estuary which runs through the middle of the Gaeltacht Kilcommon parish in Erris, County Mayo, Ireland. It is of historical importance in Irish legend, an important marine habitat, an E.U. Special Area of Conservatio ...
Bay represent possibly the only known area in Ireland with all five Annex II (listed above in Wildlife) species present on a regular basis. The bay is species rich with 72 species counted.
In exposed areas of the bay regularly exposed to wave action the anemone ''
Phellia gausapata'' is found in shallow waters A cave in deeper water supports colonies of the rare anemone ''
Parazoanthus anguicomus'' and soft coral ''
Alcyonium glomeratum
''Alcyonium glomeratum'' or red sea fingers is a species of soft coral in the family Alcyoniidae. It is found around the southern and western coasts of Britain and Ireland.
Description
Red sea fingers is similar in shape to ''Alcyonium digitatum ...
''.
In the outer bay zone beds of kelp thrive with foliose brown algaes and several varieties of the axinellid sponge species have colonised the reefs. Other communities tolerant of vertical or steeply sloped bedrock are thriving also.
A rare crab ''
Pirimela denticulata'' and hydroid ''
Tamarisca tamarisca'' both live in the bay. In the sublittoral zones of the bay lives the burrowing urchin ''
Echinocardium cordatum
''Echinocardium cordatum'', also known as the common heart urchin or the sea potato, is a sea urchin in the family (biology), family Loveniidae. It is found in sub-tidal regions in the NE Atlantic. Other un-named species have been identified as t ...
'' whose hairy shells regularly turn up on the shores, seagrass ''
Zostera marina
''Zostera marina'' is a flowering vascular plant species as one of many kinds of seagrass, with this species known primarily by the English name of eelgrass with seawrack much less used, and refers to the plant after breaking loose from the submer ...
'' and oysters ''
Ostrea edulis
''Ostrea edulis'', commonly known as the European flat oyster, is a species of oyster native to Europe. In Britain and Ireland, regional names include Colchester native oyster, mud oyster, or edible oyster. In France, ''Ostrea edulis'' are known ...
''.
Broadhaven Bay is of high conservation importance owing to the presence of several habitats that are listed on Annex 1 of the EU
Habitats Directive
The Habitats Directive (more formally known as Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora) is a directive adopted by the European Community in 1992 as a response to the Berne Convention. The E ...
. Large shallow bays, intertidal sand flats, reefs, marine caves, salt marshes are of ornithological importance for breeding and overwintering bird species.
In the inner bay of
Sruth Fada Conn
Sruwaddacon Bay () is a tidal estuary which runs through the middle of the Gaeltacht Kilcommon parish in Erris, County Mayo, Ireland. It is of historical importance in Irish legend, an important marine habitat, an E.U. Special Area of Conservatio ...
and other Broadhaven Bay inlets, there are extensive
intertidal mudflats characterised by
polychaete
Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class (biology), class of generally marine invertebrate, marine annelid worms, common name, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that ...
s and
bivalve
Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. As a group, bival ...
communities. Atlantic salt marshes fringe on the blanket bog in this area also and species include
turf fucoids,
sea thrift,
sea arrowgrass
''Triglochin maritima'' is a species of flowering plant in the arrowgrass family Juncaginaceae. It is found in brackish marshes, freshwater marshes, wet sandy beaches, fens, damp grassland and bogs. It has a circumboreal distribution, occurring ...
,
Sea Plantain,
salt marsh
A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...
grasses, rushes ''
Juncus gerardii'' and ''
Juncus maritimus
''Juncus maritimus'', known as the sea rush, is a species of rush that grows on coastlines. It is sometimes considered conspecific with '' Juncus kraussii''.
It has a wide distribution across the western Palearctic realm (all of Europe, western ...
''.
Broadhaven Bay and its inlets support important numbers of breeding terns of several varieties and black-headed gulls. It is an important area for wintering waterfowl. The following species have nationally important populations in the area -
red-breasted merganser
The red-breasted merganser (''Mergus serrator'') is a diving duck, one of the sawbills. The genus name is a Latin word used by Pliny and other Roman authors to refer to an unspecified waterbird, and ''serrator'' is a sawyer from Latin ''serra'', ...
,
ringed plover
The common ringed plover or ringed plover (''Charadrius hiaticula'') is a small plover that breeds in Arctic Eurasia. The genus name ''Charadrius'' is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. It derives from ...
,
grey plover
The grey plover or black-bellied plover (''Pluvialis squatarola'') is a large plover breeding in Arctic regions. It is a long-distance migrant, with a nearly worldwide coastal distribution when not breeding.
Taxonomy
The grey plover was forma ...
,
sanderling
The sanderling (''Calidris alba'') is a small wading bird. The name derives from Old English ''sand-yrðling'', "sand-ploughman". The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by Aristotle for some grey-colou ...
,
dunlin
The dunlin (''Calidris alpina'') is a small wader, formerly sometimes separated with the other "stints" in the genus ''Erolia''. The English name is a dialect form of "dunling", first recorded in 1531–1532. It derives from ''dun'', "dull brown ...
,
bar-tailed godwit
The bar-tailed godwit (''Limosa lapponica'') is a large and strongly migratory wader in the family Scolopacidae, which feeds on bristle-worms and shellfish on coastal mudflats and estuaries. It has distinctive red breeding plumage, long legs, an ...
,
brent goose
The brant or brent goose (''Branta bernicla'') is a small goose of the genus '' Branta''. There are three subspecies, all of which winter along temperate-zone sea-coasts and breed on the high-Arctic tundra.
The Brent oilfield was named after ...
,
oystercatcher
The oystercatchers are a group of waders forming the family Haematopodidae, which has a single genus, ''Haematopus''. They are found on coasts worldwide apart from the polar regions and some tropical regions of Africa and South East Asia. The e ...
,
Eurasian golden plover
The European golden plover (''Pluvialis apricaria''), also known as the European golden-plover, Eurasian golden plover, or just the golden plover within Europe, is a largish plover. This species is similar to two other golden plovers: the America ...
,
lapwing
Lapwings (subfamily Vanellinae) are any of various ground-nesting birds (family Charadriidae) akin to plovers and dotterels. They range from in length, and are noted for their slow, irregular wingbeats in flight and a shrill, wailing cry. A gro ...
,
knot
A knot is an intentional complication in cordage which may be practical or decorative, or both. Practical knots are classified by function, including hitches, bends, loop knots, and splices: a ''hitch'' fastens a rope to another object; a ' ...
,
curlew
The curlews () are a group of nine species of birds in the genus ''Numenius'', characterised by their long, slender, downcurved bills and mottled brown plumage. The English name is imitative of the Eurasian curlew's call, but may have been in ...
,
common redshank
The common redshank or simply redshank (''Tringa totanus'') is a Eurasian wader in the large family Scolopacidae.
Taxonomy
The common redshank was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ...
and
turnstone
Turnstones are two bird species that comprise the genus ''Arenaria'' in the family Scolopacidae. They are closely related to calidrid sandpipers and might be considered members of the tribe Calidriini.
The genus ''Arenaria'' was introduced by t ...
.
Taken overall, it serves to highlight the uniqueness of Broadhaven Bay and the waters of northwest Mayo. In comparison with other areas in Ireland where surveys have been carried out, Broadhaven provides a high
marine mammal
Marine mammals are aquatic mammals that rely on the ocean and other marine ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as seals, whales, manatees, sea otters and polar bears. They are an informal group, unified only by their reli ...
species diversity, with sightings of 10 out of the 24 marine mammal species currently recorded in Irish waters occurring in the area.
Corrib Gas Project
Broadhaven Bay has in recent years (approx 2002–2014 and ongoing) been the site of the
Corrib gas controversy
The Corrib gas controversy was a social protest campaign against the Corrib gas project in north-western County Mayo, Ireland. The project involves the processing of gas onshore through Broadhaven and Sruth Fada Conn Bays in Kilcommon. Original ...
where
Royal Dutch Shell
Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...
sent the ''Solitaire'', reputedly the largest pipelaying ship in the world, into the bay to lay an offshore section of a pipeline to deliver gas from the Corrib gas discover.
A local fisherman, Pat O'Donnell, served five months in Castlerea prison (February/March/April 2010) for refusing to stop fishing the bay in order to allow the Corrib Gas Project to lay a high pressure, unodourised pipeline and umbilical through it.
The proposed project was under examination by the country's planning appeals board,
An Bord Pleanála
(; meaning "The Planning Board"; ABP) is an independent, statutory, quasi-judicial body that decides on appeals from planning decisions made by local authorities in the Republic of Ireland. As of 2007, An Bord Pleanála directly decided major ...
, but has been overturned on each occasion. The third application from
Royal Dutch Shell
Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...
involved the boring of a tunnel some 4.2 metres diameter deep under the entire length of the bay. The proposed gas pipeline diameter is just 0.5 metres but required additional material around it. The developers stated that the proposed tunnel in the protected bay is in order for them to bring in all future fossil fuel finds by the same route.
Notable People
Grace Devit - A local woman was reported to have lived to 122. She died in 1844 and claimed to have been born in 1722. She also claimed to have "never seen a tree, crossed a bridge, or left the Barony of Erris".
See also
*
Wild Atlantic Way
The Wild Atlantic Way ( ga, Slí an Atlantaigh Fhiáin) is a tourism trail on the west coast, and on parts of the north and south coasts, of Ireland. The 2,500 km (1,553 mile) driving route passes through nine counties and three provinces, s ...
References
{{reflist
External links
* Hour long film documentary of Broadhaven Bay & environs 'Pipe Down' http://www.vimeo.com/8668733 Winner of Feature documentary - Waterford Film Festival 2009
* 'The Pipe' http://thepipethefilm.com/ - Trailer for a new film to be launched at Galway Film Festival 8 July 2010.
Ballyglass/Broadhaven lighthouse
Bays of County Mayo
Tourist attractions in County Mayo
Ramsar sites in the Republic of Ireland
Erris