GEOGRAPHY OF THE KERRY GEOPARK
[jee'âgrufee]Study of the earth's surface; includes people's responses to topography and climate and soil and vegetation. |
The proposed Geopark area is located within the most mountainous part of Ireland and is dominated by north-east to south-west trending mountain ranges which consist mainly of Devonian sandstones, crumpled and folded by later earth movements. The land is divided between upland (over 200m) and coastal, with mostly coastal settlement. The shaping of the uplands has been greatly influenced by quaternary ice movements and is an example of 'a pristine (fossil) alpine glaciated landscape, which ranks among the best in Europe'
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Our strategic area
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Features such as cliffs, corries, lakes, valleys and narrow passes such as the spectacular Bealach Beama Gap and Bealach Oisin are all features of this spectacular upland.
On the southern edge of the study area the uplands extend down to an irregularly indented coastline of cliffs and bays. In the west they slope to Lough Currane, a glacial moraine locked oligotrophic lake. Between Waterville and Hogs Head the coastline is coated in moraine material and soft, eroding cliffs of till are in evidence. High rocky cliffs replace this low lying moraine at Hogs Head and Lambs Head, while the areas largest sandy beach occurs in between these two cliffs at Derrynane.
Inlets containing small sandy beaches are dispersed at intervals along the indented rocky shoreline which extends along the north shore of Kenmare Bay from Blackwater Bridge to Lambs Head and around Coomakista to the large St Finan's Bay. A small coral beach, composed of dead fragments of calcareous algae washed in from the sea, occurs in the east along the shore at Gleesk, near Sneem. Kenmare Bay is a classic example of a drowned river valley, or ria, which was excavated by the ice and later drowned by rising sea levels.
The rivers follow the direction of the glaciated valleys and folded structure of the geology. Their courses tend to align north to south in valleys flowing into Kenmare Bay to the south and into Lough Currane and Ballinskelligs Bay to the north-west. The larger rivers are located in the east of the region – the Blackwater, the Tahilla River, the Sneem-Ardsheelane Rivers and the Caragh River. The Behaghane - Gowla River enters the sea at Castlecove, while the Coomahorna enters at Caherdaniel. The Finglas River flows in a north-westerly direction from Caherangeeha Mountain and enters the Ballinskelligs Bay with the Currane River south of Waterville. The River Fertha meets the sea at Caherciveen.
Valentia Island in the northwest of the area has a slate deposit, which was commercially exploited in the 1800s. The Houses of Parliament in England are roofed with Valentia slate. Also on Valentia are the 400-million-year-old fossilised Tetrapod Tracks, and the sumptuous, sub-tropical Glanleam Gardens, which benefit from the virtually frost-free climate.
North of Caherciveen, between Valentia and Black Strand and including the uninhabited island of Beginish, are igneous deposits and signs of ancient volcanic activity, including dolerite deposits and sea-rounded lava chunks.
In the north east, near Glenbeigh, the narrow Rossbeigh Sand Dunes form a 4-kilometre sand-peninsula jutting into Dingle Bay.
THE RING OF KERRY
The main routeway of the area, ‘the Ring of Kerry', is a national primary route (N70). Through the towns of Glenbeigh, Caherciveen and Waterville, it links the villages of Caherdaniel, Castlecove and Sneem to Killarney in a loop around the mountain upland. Besides spectacular scenery of mountains, ridges, valleys and rivers, bays, beaches, islands and ocean, this drive illustrates many features of glacier formation and deposition, including steep-sided corrie lakes, U-shaped valleys, boulder clay (moraine) and pyramidal peaks.
The Old Ballroom, Killarney Road, Sneem, Co. Kerry | kerrygeopark@sccird.com | Tel: 064 75824