Deputy's Pass () is a national nature reserve of approximately located in

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...

, Ireland. It is managed by the Irish National Parks & Wildlife Service.

Features

Deputy's Pass was legally protected as a national nature reserve by the Irish government in 1982. The reserve is also listed as a

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 ...

. The name Deputy's Pass is derived from the Battle of Deputy's Pass, during which the English army cut a pass through the woodland. The woodland at Deputy's Pass was originally a

coppice Coppicing is the traditional method in woodland management of cutting down a tree to a tree stump, stump, which in many species encourages new Shoot (botany), shoots to grow from the stump or roots, thus ultimately regrowing the tree. A forest ...

, and would have been part of the larger Glenealy oak woods. The woods are composed of

sessile oak ''Quercus petraea'', commonly known as the sessile oak, Welsh 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 unof ...

, holly, hazel, birch and beech, with an under planting of

wood sorrel ''Oxalis'' ( (British English) or (American English)) is a large genus of flowering plants in the wood-sorrel family, Oxalidaceae, comprising over 550 species. The genus occurs throughout most of the world, except for the polar areas; species ...

, blueberry, bilberry, and woodrush. The Potter River runs through the site, with fauna that include

kestrels The term kestrel (from , derivative from , i.e. Ratchet (instrument), ratchet) is the common name given to several species of predatory birds from the falcon genus ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behavio ...

, wrens, smooth newts and common frogs. There is a 2km walking trail within the reserve.

References

{{Geography of County Wicklow, state= Geography of County Wicklow Forests and woodlands of the Republic of Ireland Nature reserves in the Republic of Ireland Tourist attractions in County Wicklow Special Areas of Conservation in the Republic of Ireland