Some 19th- and early 20th-century antiquarians and surveyors visited the Erris area and wrote about their experiences and thoughts on the area at that time. During the Irish Famine of 1845 - '47 many died in Erris despite the close proximity of the sea, because they could not raise the cash to fund a passage to America. Oliver Cromwell's policy (mid 17th century) of sending the native Irish who refused to bow down to him " to hell or to Connaught" saw a large influx of population into Erris where the disinherited native Irish tried to eke a living from very poor quality agricultural land under the tenancy of the landlords and their agents. During the Plantations of Ireland, there were two major landlords in the area - the Binghams and the Carters. The period of Early Christianity saw several small churches set up but no major religious houses came to the area. Some archaeological sites are marked on Ordnance Survey maps. When present-day turf cutters harvest the bog for fuel, archaeological remains, mainly from the Neolithic and early Bronze Age, which have become buried under the bog often come to light. With minor changes in climate and high rainfall levels the land became blanketed by the bog and remains that way to the current day. After a couple of years the crops began to fail and the Neolithic people had to clear the native woodlands further and further inland to clear more land for their crops. Because the underlying rock type was ancient and heavily weathered schists the soil was thin and easily eroded by inclement weather. The odd petrified bog oak can be found too.ĭuring the Neolithic period, starting about 6,000 years ago, the first people living in Ireland whose ancestors had hunted and gathered along the coastlines of Erris from about 9,000 years ago, began to cut down the forestry to clear land for growing crops and grazing livestock. These become most obvious where there has been harvesting of turf ( peat) for fuel. Across inland Erris, the remains of these forests can be seen across the blanket bog landscape in the form of fossilised greying tree stumps which are mainly the remains of ancient Scots pine trees. Erris Head is not served by any road and can only be reached by crossing a number of fields from the hamlet of Glenlara where the road ends.Ī little stone circle at Gortbrack, Kilcommon parish, Erris.Įrris, in common with most of inland Ireland, became covered in extensive native woodland a few thousand years after the last Ice Age retreated (approx 15,000 years ago) but its northern and western shores remained relatively lightly afforested. The coastline of Erris has some of "the grandest sea cliffs in Ireland" over the Atlantic Ocean from where the next stop is the east coast of America. It is a landmark known well by mariners and is one of the sea areas cited by Met Éireann's weather forecasters. " Erris Head" (Irish: Ceann Iorrais) is a promontory at the northernmost tip of the Mullet Peninsula. Pink or orange striped gneisses are found along the beaches of Elly Bay and Annagh Head where they have become separated from the same rocks on the east coast of Northern Canada over hundreds of millions of years by the separation of tectonic plates in the mid Atlantic Ocean. The oldest rocks in Ireland, some 1.8 billion years old, are to be found on the west coasts of Erris. Sightings of rarer birds, such as the grey phalarope, booted warbler and Wilson's petrel, have also been recorded. Brent geese overwinter here feeding along the estuaries, and corncrake, chough, rock dove and twite are sometimes seen at Erris Head. It is an important area for bird watchers as the largely treeless landscape allows relatively easy access for birdwatching.
These include the Glenamoy Bog Complex, Ballycroy National Park and Bellacorick.Įrris has a large range of habitats including blanket bogs, estuaries, salt marshes, fresh water lakes, coasts, cliffs, machair, sand dunes, sandy beaches and rocky shores. Several areas of the blanket bog are protected under European legislation such as Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas (Birds Directive) and Natural Heritage Areas.
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