Ireland

Long, long ago, the land of Ireland was close to the South Pole.

Over a very long time, it moved north to where it is today. On the way, warm seas covered it and left rocks full of fossils.

Geological Survey Ireland says the land that is now Ireland started out close to the South Pole. Over a very long time it moved through the southern tropics, across the equator and into the north, to where it is today.

In the Cambrian Period, an ocean called the Iapetus Ocean covered it. Rocks laid down in that sea hold Ireland's earliest known signs of life: trace fossils, the preserved tracks and feeding tunnels of living things. Later, in the Carboniferous Period, shallow tropical seas covered Ireland from time to time and left limestone full of fossils. Carboniferous rock now makes up the bedrock of more than half of Ireland.

Geological Survey Ireland's account, period by period: all of Ireland's Precambrian rocks were later turned into metamorphic rocks. In the Cambrian the area lay beneath the Iapetus Ocean, which separated the continents Laurentia and Gondwana; Cambrian rocks hold Ireland's earliest known evidence of life, trace fossils, and are found on Howth Head, Bray Head and in County Wexford. The ocean was closing in the Ordovician, with subduction, volcanoes and earthquakes, while mountains possibly as high as the modern Himalayas rose to the north; it closed completely during the Silurian.

In the Devonian, granites such as the Leinster, Galway and Donegal granites intruded, and large deposits of Old Red Sandstone, seen mainly in Cork and Kerry, formed from sediment supplied by the Caledonian mountains to the north. In the early Carboniferous, shallow tropical seas laid down fossil-rich limestone; Carboniferous bedrock covers over half of Ireland's area and is found in every county apart from one.

When the Atlantic Ocean began to open, hot melted rock made new rocks in the north-east of Ireland.

Much later, in cold times, ice shaped the land. It left rounded hills, long ridges and valleys.

In the Paleogene Period, the North Atlantic Ocean began to open, and volcanic rocks formed, mostly in the north-east of the island. The Mourne Mountains, the Cooley Mountains and the Antrim plateau are made of rocks from that time.

Ireland's landscape itself took shape much more recently, in the Quaternary. There were a number of glacial events, and the last one in Ireland ended around 12,000 years ago. The ice shaped mountains, left glaciated valleys and dropped long ridges called eskers and rounded hills called drumlins. It also laid the foundations for Ireland's waterways and bogs, Geological Survey Ireland says.

Paleogene rocks record the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean and the volcanic and magmatic rocks it generated. They are found mainly in the north-east of the island, forming the Cooley Mountains (County Louth), the Mourne Mountains (County Down) and the Antrim plateau. Beneath the Antrim basalts, white Cretaceous chalk rich in fine marine fossils survives along the Antrim coast, protected by the basalt above it, and Jurassic rocks there hold marine fossils including the reptile ichthyosaur.

Geological Survey Ireland dates the landscape itself to the Quaternary. After a number of glacial events, the last in Ireland ending around 12,000 years ago, the island was left with ice-shaped mountains, glaciated valleys, eskers and drumlins, and with the foundations of its waterways and bogs.

The Atlantic Ocean keeps Ireland's weather mild. Winters are cool and windy, and summers are mostly mild.

The mild weather helps bogs form. A bog is soft, wet ground. It soaks up rain and lets it out slowly.

Met Éireann says the Atlantic Ocean is the main influence on Ireland's climate, so Ireland does not get the extreme temperatures of many other countries at a similar distance from the equator. The warm North Atlantic Drift has a strong effect on the temperature of the sea. Winters tend to be cool and windy, and summers are mostly mild and less windy.

Ireland's National Parks and Wildlife Service says this mild Atlantic climate has let bogs develop widely: blanket bogs in the west and the mountains, and raised bogs in the midlands. Healthy bogs that are still forming peat take carbon dioxide out of the air and store it for thousands of years.

Met Éireann calls the Atlantic Ocean the dominant influence on Ireland's climate. The maritime influence is strongest near the Atlantic coasts and weakens inland, and hills and mountains, many of them near the coasts, give shelter. Depressions often pass to the north-west of Ireland, bringing cloudy, humid weather with rain followed by brighter, colder weather with showers; a study of weather charts over ten years found that on average 170 fronts reached the south-west of Ireland each year (Rohan).

The National Parks and Wildlife Service links the island's widespread bogs to this mild Atlantic climate: blanket bogs in the west and the mountains, raised bogs in the midlands, with combinations of species not found elsewhere. Intact bogs that are actively forming peat store carbon for thousands of years, purify water and reduce flooding by absorbing, holding and slowly releasing water. The midlands' raised bogs are the most threatened type, with less than 1% in a natural state and still forming peat.

White-tailed eagles once died out in Ireland.

Then people set young eagles free in a national park in County Kerry. Now eagle pairs raise chicks in Ireland again.

The white-tailed eagle had died out in Ireland. Between 2007 and 2011, Ireland's National Parks and Wildlife Service released 100 young eagles in Killarney National Park, County Kerry. They spread out widely, and the first successful breeding was in 2012 at Lough Derg, County Clare. By July 2020, eight to ten pairs had raised 31 chicks that learned to fly.

To make the small population stronger, a second phase began in 2020. Ten chicks were collected under licence from nests in Norway, flown to Kerry, and set free in August 2020 wearing wing tags and satellite tags.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is re-establishing the white-tailed eagle, a species that had become extinct in Ireland. In the first phase (2007-2011), 100 young eagles were released in Killarney National Park, County Kerry; they dispersed widely, and the first successful breeding came in 2012 on Lough Derg, County Clare. By July 2020, a small breeding population of eight to ten pairs had fledged 31 chicks across Counties Cork, Kerry, Clare, Galway and Tipperary, and farmers helped to monitor birds and nests at some sites.

A scientific review found the population still vulnerable, for example to bird flu and extreme weather, so a second phase (2020-2022) began. Each year of the project, chicks aged 7 to 10 weeks were to be flown to Ireland, reared until they could fly, wing-tagged, satellite-tagged and released; by early 2021 the first year's birds had spread across Munster and north along the River Shannon.

In warm, dry weather, dead grass and bushes can catch fire easily.

So nobody lights fires or barbecues in Ireland's national parks. If you see a fire, a grown-up calls for help.

Ireland's National Parks and Wildlife Service has a complete ban on fires and barbecues in its national parks. During a warm spell in July 2026, it asked everyone not to light fires or barbecues in any public place, including nature reserves, coastal sand dunes, mountains and forests, because dead grass, heather and gorse create a very high fire risk.

If you see a fire, call the emergency services on 112 or 999 straight away. Never try to fight it: gather your group and move to a safe place with nothing to burn, such as a car park, upwind of the fire.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service has a complete ban on fires and barbecues in national parks. In a July 2026 reminder, issued as exceptionally warm weather arrived, it warned of a very high fire risk wherever dead grasses and shrubs such as heather and gorse grow, and asked people not to light fires or barbecues in public places, from nature reserves and coastal dunes to mountains, forests, meadows and urban parks.

Its advice if a fire breaks out near a recreation area: call 112 or 999 and give the location clearly; never try to fight the fire; gather your group in a fuel-free place, such as a car park, upwind of it; and leave if told to. Wildlife needs respect too: the NPWS treats information on where white-tailed eagles are as possibly sensitive and asks the public to report sightings.