Lough Ramor - Natural Environment

Natural Environment

Lough Ramor is a partly wooded wetland site, a haven for many species of wildlife both resident and migratory. Available recorded history indicates that nearly half of the 170 acres (0.69 km2) of Deerpark woodland was once oak woodland, the timber being used for building and agricultural purposes. During the seventeenth century it was reported that early Virginia settlers had to transport their building timber from west Cavan and Fermanagh. The early nineteenth century saw extensive tree planting of ash, elm, oak, larch, spruce and Scots pine. In recent times additional broad leaf varieties were planted including sycamore.

The most recent site study conducted by the Government Department of the Environment describes the Lough Ramor area as a hollow in the Silurian strata that covers most of eastern County Cavan. Lough Ramor is a very shallow lake with a pH of 7.5 and a maximum depth of six metres. The water is nutritionally poor but is periodically enriched, resulting in algal blooms. Being situated on a different rock type than other Cavan lakes it differs also in appearance. Much of the shore has semi-natural woodland of alder, willows and hazel. The stands near Virginia were originally planted.

Hazel and hawthorn scrub is widespread on relatively dry sites with bramble, false brome, wood sedge, violet, bluebell, wild hyacinth and primrose. Where such communities occur on a rocky shore crab apple often grows with roses and dog violet. The scrub grades into woodland in several places on the southern shore and here ash and oak occur with holly. The bird community in such sites include treecreeper, long-tailed tit, chiffchaff, willow warbler and locally blackcap, woodpigeon, sparrowhawk, jay, pheasant and woodcock are also found.

The islands are mostly covered by Willows, in more open places black-headed gulls nest, mallard, teal and red-breasted merganser breed on the island, great crested grebe largely use the mainland shores of the lake.

Freshwater marshes exist in many places around the shore but extensive reed-beds stretching out into the lake are rare. The margins of the marshes are mostly sedge dominated by such species as bottle sedge, bladder-sedge, tufted-sedge, common-sedge and occasionally water-sedge, water horsetail, marsh cinquefoil and bur-reeds also occur commonly. Also on the fringes occurs a more varied community characteristic of base-poor areas, with such species as marsh ragwort, lesser spearwort, devils-bit scaboius, marsh bedstraw and hoary willowherb, creeping bent, sweet vernal-grass, Yorkshire fog and purple moor-grass. Cuckooflower occurs commonly and bog violet and greater spearwort are to be found in places.

Stretches of the shore with muddy or stony substrates provide niches for bur marigold and the scarce tasteless water-pepper and small water-pepper.

The lake supports nationally important numbers of cormorant (averaging around 200) and notable concentrations of Whooper swan, wigeon, Teal, mallard, grey heron and lapwing. Curlew and lapwing also nest in the fringing marshes.

The plant communities along the lake margins are of note and combine with over wintering bird numbers to make Lough Ramor an important wetland site.