St Gobnet's Wood (alternative spelling: St. Gobnait's Wood) is a protected area of oak woodland at

Baile Bhuirne Ballyvourney ( ga, Baile Bhuirne , meaning 'Town of the Beloved', also spelled ) is a Gaeltacht village in southwest County Cork, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the barony of Muskerry West, and is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Cat ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

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 ...

. It is on the north-east side of a hill immediately south of the village, and takes its name from the church of

Saint Gobnait Saint Gobnait (?), also known as Gobnat or Mo Gobnat or Abigail or Deborah, is the name of a medieval, female Irish saint whose church was Móin Mór, later Bairnech, in the village of Ballyvourney ( ga, Baile Bhuirne), County Cork in Ireland.Jo ...

(or Gobnet) which is also nearby. Along with Cascade Wood, St Gobnet's Wood is included in a fragmented

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 ...

. In 1998 St Gobnet's Wood was proposed as a

Site of Community Importance A Site of Community Importance (SCI) is defined in the European Commission Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) as a site which, in the biogeographical region or regions to which it belongs, contributes significantly to the maintenance or restoration at ...

under 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 ...

. The National Parks and Wildlife Service gave the area of the wood as about 30 hectares (ha). Subsequently, Cascade Wood, on the northern side of the

N22 road The N22 road is a national primary road in Ireland which goes through counties Kerry and Cork, from Tralee in the west through Killarney, Macroom and Ballincollig to Cork City in the east. Improvements Sections of the N22 were upgrad ...

, was identified as supporting various species of bats and the

Kerry slug The Kerry slug or Kerry spotted slug (''Geomalacus maculosus'') is a species of terrestrial, pulmonate, gastropod mollusc. It is a medium-to-large sized, air-breathing land slug in the family of roundback slugs, Arionidae. Adult Kerry slu ...

, animals protected under the

.Catherine Ketch (2009)
Kerry Slug researcher visits Baile Bhúirne and Beara
''

The Corkman ''The Corkman'' is a weekly Irish newspaper. It is part of the Corkman Group and based in Mallow. It is owned by the Independent News & Media group. The paper is primarily a North Cork newspaper, and also publishes a separate edition for M ...

'' In 2007 the Irish Environment Minister,

John Gormley John Gormley (born 4 August 1959) is an Irish former Green Party politician who served as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government from June 2007 to January 2011, Leader of the Green Party from June 2007 to May 2011 and Lor ...

, proposed the expansion of the 'St Gobnet's Wood Special Area of Conservation' to include Cascade Wood. The

European Environment Agency The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides independent information on the environment. Definition The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides i ...

's records show the site as covering 44 ha on both sides of the main road, following an update in 2008.

Impact of upgrade to road

When the Irish government gave protection to Cascade Wood, it was intended that the alignment of a proposed by-pass should avoid the SAC.Alan Healy (2007-09-27
Kerry slug has forced re-think on new bypass
''The Kingdom'' (Kingdom Media Ltd), retrieved 2011-01-20 However, it proved difficult to find a new route for the road in question, the

Macroom Macroom (; ga, Maigh Chromtha) is a market town in County Cork, Ireland, located in the valley of the River Sullane, halfway between Cork city and Killarney. Its population has grown and receded over the centuries as it went through periods of ...

-Baile Bhuirne section of the N22, leading the authorities to go ahead with a route through Cascade Wood, as had previously been proposed. It was decided to relocate Kerry slugs in the path of the upgraded road to suitable habitat elsewhere, and in 2018 it was reported that the necessary environmental works were underway. Construction of the road itself began in 2020.

References

{{coord, 51, 56, 29, N, 9, 10, 00, W, display=title Forests and woodlands of the Republic of Ireland Protected areas of County Cork Special Areas of Conservation in the Republic of Ireland