Derrycunnihy Wood is a national nature reserve of approximately located in

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

, Ireland. It is managed by

Coillte Coillte (; meaning "forests"/"woods") is a state-owned commercial forestry business in Ireland based in Newtownmountkennedy. Coillte manage approximately 7% of the country’s land, and operates three businesses - their core forestry business, a ...

Features

Derrycunnihy Wood, also known as Derrycunihy Wood, was legally protected as a national nature reserve by the Irish government in 1989. The reserve is owned by

. The name Derrycunnihy means "wood of the rabbits", despite a lack of rabbits in the area today. The reserve is located in

Killarney National Park Killarney National Park ( ga, Páirc Náisiúnta Chill Airne), near the town of Killarney, County Kerry, was the first national park in Ireland, created when the Muckross Estate was donated to the Irish Free State in 1932. The park has sinc ...

. It is believed to be one of the oldest and most natural native

sessile oak ''Quercus petraea'', commonly known as the sessile oak, Cornish oak, Irish Oak or durmast oak, is a species of oak tree native to most of Europe and into Anatolia and Iran. The sessile oak is the national tree of Ireland, and an unofficial embl ...

woods in Ireland and the country's best example of a damp-climate oceanic wood with dense mosses and ferns. The reserve also contains lake shore and areas of bog. Two species of deer graze in the reserve, native

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

graze in winter on the open hills, and the Japanese sika deer which were introduced in the 18th century graze the woodland all year round, which results in areas of grass like lawn and a brown line under which all leaves and twigs have been eaten.

References

{{Reflist Geography of County Kerry Forests and woodlands of the Republic of Ireland Nature reserves in the Republic of Ireland Tourist attractions in County Kerry Special Areas of Conservation in the Republic of Ireland