Murlough Nature Reserve is a

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

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 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, near

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

. It is on a peninsula between

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 t ...

and Murlough Bay () and has views of

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

, the highest peak in the

Mourne Mountains The Mourne Mountains ( ; ), also called the Mournes or the Mountains of Mourne, are a predominantly granite mountain range in County Down in the south-east of Northern Ireland. They include the highest mountain in all of Ulster, Slieve Donard ...

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

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

since 1967, when it became

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

's first nature reserve. It is also home to Murlough Beach.

Features

At 697 acres, it is the largest dune heathland in 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 that breeds throughout much of the Palearctic, from south-eastern Greenland and Iceland east to just east of the Ural Mountains in Russia, and south to central France and Romania; ...

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 Australia, New Zealand and on the Hawaiian Islands. I ...

common cuckoo The cuckoo, common cuckoo, European cuckoo or Eurasian cuckoo (''Cuculus canorus'') is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, Cuculiformes, which includes the Geococcyx, roadrunners, the ani (bird), anis and the coucals. This species is a widesp ...

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 relative ...

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 na ...

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 a large seal of the family Phocidae, which are commonly referred to as "true seals" or "earless seals". The only species classified in the genus ''Halichoerus'', it is found on both shores of the Nort ...

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 pinniped (walruses, eared sea ...

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 ' ...

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 b ...

. On the Dundrum Bay side of the nature reserve is Murlough Beach, a shingle beach and four-mile-long

Blue Flag beach The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) that a beach, marina, or sustainable boating tourism operator meets its standards. The Blue Flag is a trademark owned by FEE, which is a Not-for-profit organi ...

. Grid ref: J414351.

History

In 1857,

Arthur Hill, 4th Marquess of Downshire Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom), Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Wills Blundell Sandys Trumbull Windsor Hill, 4th Marquess of Downshire Order of St Patrick, KP (6 August 1812 – 6 August 1868) was an Irish peer, styled Earl of Hillsborough until ...

built Murlough House as a summer residence on the peninsula. A wooden bridge was built 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. 23 butterfly species have been recorded at Murlough NNR, 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 st ...

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

grayling Grayling or Greyling may refer to: Animals Fish * Grayling, generically, any fish of the genus ''Thymallus'' in the family Salmonidae ** European grayling (''Thymallus thymallus''), the type species of the genus ''Thymallus'' ** Arctic grayling ( ...

(''Hipparchia semele'') and cryptic wood white (''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. meger ...

butterfly (''Lasiommata megera'') has not been recorded for several years. 787 species of moth have been recorded at Murlough Nature Reserve - 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''. A total of 810 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 species of moth in the family Noctuidae. It is found in most of African countries, the Indo-Australian subtropics and tropics of India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, ...

''), white-speck, the delicate. In 2012 a Stephens' gem ('' Megalographa biloba'') was recorded at Murlough NNR - this was the 1st record for Ireland of this North American species.

Gallery

File:Murlough National Nature Reserve (12), February 2010.JPG, Landscape, February 2010 File:Murlough Nature Reserve.jpg, Gorse-covered dunes, May 2021 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