The Caha Mountains (''An Cheacha'' in Irish) are a range of low

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

mountains on the

Beara peninsula Beara () or the Beara Peninsula is a peninsula on the south-west coast of Ireland, bounded between the Kenmare River (which is actually a bay) to the north side and Bantry Bay to the south. It contains two mountain ranges running down its ce ...

in south-west

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

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 ...

. The highest peak is

Hungry Hill Hungry Hill or Knockday () is the highest of the Caha Mountains on the Beara Peninsula in Munster, Ireland. Etymology The first part of the Irish name ''Cnoc Daod'' means "hill". The second part may be a dialectal variant of ''déad'', mean ...

, at . Other notable peaks include

Knocknagree Knocknagree (; the hill of the horse stud) is a village in north-west County Cork in Ireland. Located on the R582 (Ballydesmond to Macroom) regional road it is 5 km north of Rathmore. It is approximately one mile from the Cork- Kerry bo ...

Sugarloaf Mountain Sugarloaf Mountain (, ) is a peak situated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on a peninsula at the mouth of Guanabara Bay. Rising above the harbor, the peak is named for its resemblance to the traditional shape of concentrated refined loaf suga ...

, Eskatarriff, Knocknaveacal, Derryclancy, Nareera, Killane Mountain and Baurearagh Mountain.

Mountains

The Caha Mountains have been 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 underlying rock is

Old Red Sandstone Old Red Sandstone, abbreviated ORS, is an assemblage of rocks in the North Atlantic region largely of Devonian age. It extends in the east across Great Britain, Ireland and Norway, and in the west along the eastern seaboard of North America. It ...

and the terrain generally consists of rocky crags and outcrops interspersed with grassy slopes. The southern part of the range has a broad ridge with a boggy plateau dotted with small lakes, and there are substantial cliffs in the northwestern part. Other habitat types include

blanket bog Blanket bog or blanket mire, also known as featherbed bog, is an area of peatland, forming where there is a climate of high rainfall and a low level of evapotranspiration, allowing peat to develop not only in wet hollows but over large expanses ...

, wet and dry heathland, scree slopes and species-rich grassland.

Ecology

The grassland is dominated by purple moor grass (''

Molinia caerulea ''Molinia caerulea'', known by the common name purple moor-grass, is a species of grass that is native to Europe, west Asia, and north Africa. It grows in locations from the lowlands up to in the Alps. Like most grasses, it grows best in acid s ...

''), with some mat grass (''

Nardus stricta ''Nardus'' is a genus of plants belonging to the grass family, containing the single species ''Nardus stricta'', known as matgrass. It is placed in its own tribe Nardeae within the subfamily Pooideae. The name derives from ancient Greek ' () fro ...

''), ''

Festuca ''Festuca'' (fescue) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the grass family Poaceae (subfamily Pooideae). They are evergreen or herbaceous perennial tufted grasses with a height range of and a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on ...

'' spp. and ''

Agrostis ''Agrostis'' (bent or bentgrass) is a large and very nearly Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan genus of plants in the Poaceae, grass family, found in nearly all the countries in the world. It has been bred as a Genetically modified organis ...

'' spp.. This thins out on the ridges and summits. The dry alpine heath supports heather (''

Calluna vulgaris ''Calluna vulgaris'', common heather, ling, or simply heather, is the sole species in the genus ''Calluna'' in the flowering plant family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing evergreen shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found wide ...

''), bell heather (''

Erica cinerea ''Erica cinerea'', the bell heather, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae, native to western and central Europe. Description It is a low, spreading shrub growing to tall, with fine needle-like leaves long arranged in ...

''), crowberry (''

Empetrum nigrum ''Empetrum nigrum'', crowberry, black crowberry, mossberry, or, in western Alaska, Labrador, etc., blackberry, is a flowering plant species in the heather family Ericaceae with a near circumboreal distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. Desc ...

''), roseroot (''

Rhodiola rosea ''Rhodiola rosea'' (commonly golden root, rose root, roseroot, Aaron's rod, Arctic root, king's crown, ''lignum rhodium'', orpin rose) is a perennial plant, perennial flowering plant in the family Crassulaceae. It grows naturally in wild Arctic ...

''), St. Patrick's-cabbage (''

Saxifraga spathularis ''Saxifraga spathularis'', the St Patrick's cabbage, is a species of saxifrage native to Ireland, Portugal, and Spain. It is a member of the so-called Lusitanian flora, a small set of plants which are native to Ireland but inexplicably absent fr ...

''), heath bedstraw (''

Galium saxatile ''Galium saxatile'' or heath bedstraw is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is related to cleavers. ''Galium saxatile'' is a perennial mat-forming herb, found on grassland, moors, heaths and woods. It can reach a height o ...

''), dwarf willow (''

Salix herbacea ''Salix herbacea'', the dwarf willow, least willow or snowbed willow, is a species of tiny creeping willow (family Salicaceae) adapted to survive in harsh arctic and subarctic environments. Distributed widely in alpine and arctic environments ar ...

'') and viviparous fescue ('' Festuca vivipara''), together with the ferns Wilson's filmy-fern (''

Hymenophyllum wilsonii ''Hymenophyllum wilsonii'', the Wilson's filmy-fern, is a small, fragile, perennial leptosporangiate fern which forms large dense colonies from creeping rhizomes. Distribution Confined to western Europe (Britain, Ireland, France, Norway, Spain ...

''), hard fern ('' Struthiopteris spicant ''), brittle bladder-fern (''

Cystopteris fragilis ''Cystopteris fragilis'' is a species of perennial fern known by the common names brittle bladder-fern and common fragile fern. It can be found worldwide, generally in shady, moist areas. Description It has a short, black rootstock. The leaves ...

''), green spleenwort (''

Asplenium viride ''Asplenium viride'' is a species of fern known as the green spleenwort because of its green stipes and rachides. This feature easily distinguishes it from the very similar-looking maidenhair spleenwort, ''Asplenium trichomanes''. Taxonomy Gre ...

''), fir clubmoss (''

Huperzia selago ''Huperzia selago'', the northern firmoss or fir clubmoss, is a vascular plant in the family Lycopodiaceae. It is small-ish, sturdy, stiff and upright and densely scale-leaved. This plant is an evergreen, perennial pteridophyte. The spores are ...

'') and the moss '' Cyclodictyon laetevirens''. The Caha Mountains are notable for the presence of ''

Minuartia recurva ''Minuartia recurva'', the recurved sandwort or sickle-leaved sandwort, is a rare tufted, calcifugous chamaephyte perennial flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae. It blooms from late spring to the end of summer. Description This perenn ...

'', a montane sandwort otherwise not found in Ireland. During a botanical survey of these mountains in 2000, over two hundred plants of the Alpine sandwort were found in each of its two known locations. Other rare plants were recorded; these included the heath pearlwort (''

Sagina subulata ''Sagina subulata'' ( syn. ''Sagina pilifera''), the heath pearlwort, Irish-moss, awl-leaf pearlwort or Scottish moss, is a species of flowering plant in the pink and carnation family Caryophyllaceae. It is native to Europe, from Iceland south to ...

''), the hybrid rush '' Juncus conglomeratus x J. effusus'', and the marsh clubmoss ''

Lycopodiella inundata ''Lycopodiella inundata'' is a species of club moss known by the common names inundated club moss, marsh clubmoss and northern bog club moss. It has a circumpolar and circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout the northern Northern Hemis ...

'', found in abundance on one rock ledge on Knockowen. The Killarney fern (''

Vandenboschia speciosa ''Vandenboschia speciosa'', synonym ''Trichomanes speciosum'', commonly known as the Killarney fern, is a species of fern found widely in Western Europe. It is most abundant in Ireland, Great Britain, Brittany, Galicia, Canary Islands, Madeira ...

'') can also be found here. The Caha Mountains are home to 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 (biology), family of roundback slugs, Arionidae. Ad ...

, otters, badgers, hares, lizards, brown trout and frogs. The

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known simply as the peregrine, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae renowned for its speed. A large, Corvus (genus), cro ...

breeds here and the

ring ouzel The ring ouzel (''Turdus torquatus'') is a mainly European member of the thrush family Turdidae. It is a medium-sized thrush, in length and weighing . The male is predominantly black with a conspicuous white crescent across its breast. Females ...

is one of the birds that visits the area during

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

Mountains

Ecology

References

See also