The story of Connemara National Park

As you walk in here, you step onto land that was once part of the Kylemore Abbey estate. Connemara National Park is one of eight national parks in Ireland, founded and opened to the public in 1980. It covers 2,000 hectares of mountains, bogs, heaths, grasslands and forests, and its entrance is on the Clifden side of Letterfrack. People have left their mark here for a very long time: there is a 19th-century graveyard, and there are 4,000-year-old megalithic court tombs.

In the bogs, look closely at the ground. The soil holds very few nutrients, so carnivorous plants such as sundew and butterwort get their energy by digesting insects. Purple moorgrass is the most plentiful plant.

Listen for skylarks and meadow pipits, and watch for a hovering kestrel. Red deer disappeared from the area about 150 years ago and have recently been brought back. Even so, the largest mammal in the park today is the Connemara pony.