Murlough Nature Reserve lies on the coast of

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, situated close to

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. It has views of

Slieve Donard Slieve Donard ( ; ) is the highest mountain in Northern Ireland and the wider province of Ulster, with a height of . The highest of the Mourne Mountains, it is near the town of Newcastle on the eastern coast of County Down, overlooking the Iris ...

, the highest peak in the

Mourne Mountains The Mourne Mountains ( ; ga, Beanna Boirche), also called the Mournes or Mountains of Mourne, are a granite mountain range in County Down in the south-east of Northern Ireland. They include the highest mountains in Northern Ireland, the high ...

and

Dundrum Bay Dundrum Bay (Old Irish ''Loch Rudraige'') is a bay located next to Dundrum, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is divided into the Outer Bay, and the almost entirely landlocked Inner Bay. They are separated by the dune systems of Ballykinler to the ...

. Its 6,000-year-old sand dune system has been managed by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

since 1967, when it became

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

's first nature reserve. Grid ref: J414351.

Features

At 697 acres, it is the most extensive example of dune heath within Ireland, with a network of paths and boardwalks through the dunes. Breeding birds include

meadow pipit The meadow pipit (''Anthus pratensis'') is a small passerine bird, which breeds in much of the Palearctic, from southeastern Greenland and Iceland east to just east of the Ural Mountains in Russia, and south to central France and Romania; an isol ...

Eurasian skylark The Eurasian skylark (''Alauda arvensis'') is a passerine bird in the lark family, Alaudidae. It is a widespread species found across Europe and the Palearctic with introduced populations in New Zealand, Australia and on the Hawaiian Islands. ...

common cuckoo The common cuckoo (''Cuculus canorus'') is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, Cuculiformes, which includes the roadrunners, the anis and the coucals. This species is a widespread summer migrant to Europe and Asia, and winters in Africa. I ...

European stonechat The European stonechat (''Saxicola rubicola'') is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a subspecies of the common stonechat. Long considered a member of the thrush family, Turdidae, genetic evidence has placed it and its relativ ...

common linnet The common linnet (''Linaria cannabina'') is a small passerine bird of the finch family, Fringillidae. It derives its common name and the scientific name, ''Linaria'', from its fondness for hemp seeds and flax seeds—flax being the English n ...

and

common reed bunting The common reed bunting (''Emberiza schoeniclus'') is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae. The genus name ''Emberiza'' is from Old German ''Embritz'', a ...

. Shorehauling

grey 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 " ...

and

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 ...

s are also common in the area. Between 50 and 130 common and grey seals regularly use the area for moulting, resting and feeding. Rare plants local to the site are

pyramidal orchid ''Anacamptis pyramidalis'', the pyramidal orchid, is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the genus ''Anacamptis'' of the family Orchidaceae. The scientific name ''Anacamptis'' derives from Greek ανακάμτειν 'anakamptein' meaning 'b ...

and

carline thistle ''Carlina vulgaris'', the carline thistle, is a plant species of the genus '' Carlina''. It is a biennial that grows on limestone, chalky or other alkaline grasslands or dunes. The flowers are clusters of very small brown florets surrounded by br ...

. It also has access to a shingle beach and four mile Blue Flag strand.

History

In 1857, the 4th

Marquess of Downshire Marquess of Downshire is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1789 for Wills Hill, 1st Earl of Hillsborough, a former Secretary of State. Hill had already been created Earl of Hillsborough and Viscount Kilwarlin of County Down ...

built Murlough House as a summer residence on the peninsula. They built a wooden bridge connecting to Keel Point, replaced in 1893 with the current granite one. The house and sand dunes were extensively used by the US Army during the Second World War. In 1942 the US 1st Battalion, 13th Armored (1st Division) arrived followed by the 818th Tank Destroyer Battalion (XV Corps) in April 1944.

Moths and butterflies

Several rare moths and butterflies can be found within the reserve. Of the 23 butterfly species recorded at Murlough, the

marsh fritillary The marsh fritillary (''Euphydryas aurinia'') is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. Commonly distributed in the Palearctic region, the marsh fritillary's common name derives from one of its several habitats, marshland. The prolonged larval s ...

(''Euphydryas aurinia''), is of European importance - other notable species include dark-green fritillary (''Argynnis aglaja''), grayling (''Hipparchia semele'') and

cryptic wood white ''Leptidea reali'', the Réal's wood white, is a butterfly of the family Pieridae. Appearance, behaviour and distribution Réal's wood white has been found in many western Europe countries but has not been found in Britain. In Ireland, where i ...

(''Leptidea juvernica''). One species, the

wall brown ''Lasiommata megera'', the wall or wall brown, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae ( subfamily Satyrinae). It is widespread in the Palearctic realm with a large variety of habitats and number of generations a year. Description ''P. meg ...

butterfly (''Lasiommata megera'') has not been recorded for several years and is considered extinct at this site. Over 750 species of moth have been recorded within the boundary of Murlough Nature Reserve, more than at any other site in Northern Ireland - examples include small elephant hawkmoth (''Deilephila porcellus''), sand dart (''Agrotis ripae'') and the micro moths ''

Pyrausta cingulata ''Pyrausta cingulata'', the silver-barred sable, is a species of moth of the family Crambidae. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. It is found in Europe. The wingspan is 14–18 mm. The forew ...

'' and ''

Hysterophora maculosana ''Hysterophora maculosana'', the bluebell conch, is a species of moth of the family Tortricidae. It is found from most of Europe, east to the Crimea, Asia Minor and the Palestinian territories. The habitat consists of woodland areas. The wing ...

''. A total of 775 Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) have been recorded within the nature reserve boundary. Notable migrant species noted in the area have included: cosmopolitan (''

Leucania loreyi ''Leucania loreyi'', the cosmopolitan, false army worm or nightfeeding rice armyworm, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in most of African countries, the Indo-Australian subtropics and tropics of India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, the eastern ...

''), tawny pinion (''

Lithophane semibrunnea ''Lithophane semibrunnea'', the tawny pinion, is a moth of the Noctuoidea family. It is found in scattered populations in North Africa, central and southern Europe and Asia Minor. Technical description and variation The wingspan is 40–44 ...

''), double line ('' Mythimna turca''), white-speck, the delicate and L-album wainscot In 2012 a Stephens' gem (''

Megalographa biloba Stephens' gem or the bilobed looper (''Megalographa biloba'') is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is widely distributed from the southern parts of the United States, south through Central America and South America to Argentina. As a Lepidopter ...

'') was recorded at Murlough NNR - this was the 1st record for Ireland of this North American moth species.

Gallery

File:Murlough National Nature Reserve (01), January 2010.JPG, Sign board, January 2010 File:Murlough National Nature Reserve (10), February 2010.JPG, Walkway, February 2010 File:Murlough National Nature Reserve (25), February 2010.JPG, Gorse burning, February 2010 File:Murlough_Nature_Reserve_-_geograph.org.uk_-_82876.jpg, Exmoor ponies at Murlough, used for grazing management

References

External links

Virtual tour of Murlough Nature Reserve
- Virtual Visit Northern Ireland
Murlough Nature Reserve on the National Trust website
{{Museums and galleries in Northern Ireland Geography of County Down Nature reserves in Northern Ireland Protected areas of County Down National Trust properties in Northern Ireland