Croaghill Environmental Haven.
 |
 |
The entrance gate to Croaghill as it appeared in June 2017.
|
|
 |
| The entrance to Croaghill with a new gate in place, August 2019. |
Background to the project.
In June 2017 Darren and John Griffith bought 2ha (approx. 4.8
acres) of land at Croaghill adjacent to the village of Williamstown, County
Galway, Ireland. The land was described as, rough grazing land suitable for summer
use, by the auctioneer handling the
sale. The purchasers however saw that it had significant potential for planting
native tree and shrub species, encouraging sustainable wildlife habitats and
monitoring changes taking place as the work progressed. In short it was an
ideal parcel of land to develop as a wildlife haven project.
The land is located in an area which can be described as
underdeveloped and almost abandoned for commercial activities. So the overall
project could also be a means to focus on and investigate changes in farming
activities there in the recent and distant past. The researching, and recording
of the geological, archaeological and historical background to the area could
also be integrated into the long-term aims of the project.
Digital Globe location: 53040'56''N, 8035'20''W.
The field at Croaghill.
Location and layout of the land. The land is located very close to
the village of Williamstown. It is rectangular in shape and lies in a S-West to
N-East orientation, (long axis, 43.9 degrees)
. The approx. dimensions of the land are 351m x 56m. These
dimensions give an area for the field as 1.96ha. The land slopes gently
downwards in a S-W to N-E direction. At the S-w end the field is serviced by a
cobbled road (boreen) which is adequate to allow machinery enter the
field. The land itself is divided into 4
sub-plots, numbered 1,2,3 and 4 from the S-W.
Plot no 1 measures approx. 65m x 56m. One side of this plot has
its boundary on the boreen. The other 3 boundaries are well defined, banks with
furze and briars and topped by an unmaintained barbed wire fence. A badly
maintained gateway gives access to the field at the Northern corner of this
plot. A track way links each of the subplots on the northern boundary of the land.
Plot no 2 measures approx. 75m x 56m.
Plot no 3 is approx. 93m x 55m. The soil
of these 3 plots appear to be mineral in nature but all are heavily overgrown
by rushes, sedges and moor grasses as well as occasional briar and furze
patches. The state of the vegetation indicates strongly that no farming
activities have taken place in this land for several years, perhaps as many as
10. The boundary fence separating plot no
3 from no 4 is much less well defined than the other boundaries.
Plot no 4 is becomes
increasingly boggy and at its N-E side it is distinctly
marshy. The outer boundary fences in plot no 4 are very poorly defined and
appear much more clearly defined on the aerial photographs than they appear on
the ground. It measures 104m x 55m.
 |
The land at Croaghill from GOOGLE Earth.
 |
Plot 10c shows the field as it appears on a 6inch map of 1891. The borderline between 10c and 13c has since been straightened.
|
A section of a 6 inch map shows that an old boreen serving the fields was orig inally zig-zagged. This map shows the area before the striping under the land acts of 1880s. At the North-west corner a lime kiln is indicated.This map was produced in the period 1829 to 1841.
This is a section of a 25 inch map drawn in the 1897 to 1913 period. It shows that the land has now been striped, and a straight boreen has been built to individual access to each of the new fields. The field now being developed as a haven is indicated with a red mark). The lime kiln shown in the 6 inch map also appears in this map but in an slightly different location.
The area as it appears in 2018, in the GOOGLE map viewer.
|
In brief the overall aims of this project could be listed as follows:
1 To encourage, by planting and management, the development of
native woodland species on the site.
2 While leaving the overall structure of the land intact, the development
in a sensitive way, of habitats which will evolve over time into significant
foci of wildlife activity.
3 To investigate and document the changing pattern of human
habitation and activity in the surrounding area from as far back historically,
as it is possible to obtain records.
4 To document the geomorphological properties of the site as they
represent the area in which the site is located.
5 The dissemination of information on the work as it progresses
will be an important aspect of the project.
To achieve this reports will be made through local or national
organisations with an interest in wildlife habitats or environmental
conservation, as appropriate.
6 An internet blogsite will be established as the work gets
underway. This will act as a tool to document pictorially, geographically and
chronologically the work as it progresses. This will enable as wide an audience
as possible to be aware of the ongoing work, without the necessity of any
intrusive signage at the site itself.
August 2017. The following pictures illustrate the wide range of flowering plants growing on the site at this time of the year.
September 2017. The entrance to the site was improved by setting up the gate to be opened and building a stile alongside to allow ease of access to the site.
October 2017. The first trees were planted on the site. These included oak, ash, birch and scots pine in a line on the north side of field 1. During this time also a considerable clearing of blackberry briars growing by the boundaries in fields 1 and 2 was made.
 |
| Planting first tree at Croaghill, an oak. |
 |
| First oak tree to be planted as it looks in Oct 2019. |
 |
| This area, once cleared of briars, proved to be the ideal site for the vegetable allotment. |
Work during the year 2018.
February 2018. During this month some of the accumulated brash was burnt. Then approx 40 trees were planted, mainly oak, mountain ash, birch, with a small number of elm, yew, holly and aspen. Whitethorn, blackthorn, holly, and a guilder rose were planted as hedging on the boundary fences. Work continued on the allotment.
 |
| Field 3 planting. |
 |
| Yew, Field 2. |
 |
Scots Pine
|
 |
| Oaks planted on cleared ground, field 2 |
 |
| Field 1 during the very cold weather of February 2018 |
March 2018. The spring of 2018 was very cold with hard night frosts at the end of Feb and during March. Vegetable planting did not start at the allotment until 31st March.
 |
| The allotment takes shape. Ridges and drills made up before planting. |
 |
| Planting ongoing, potatoes at far end. Mixture of oats/wheat at near end. |
The final tree planting of spring 2018, April 2nd. 2 Juniper and 4 oak planted by Julie, Mia and Darren.
MAY 2018. Bog Fire. On Saturday 12th May a bog fire started to the North-east of Croaghill. The cause of this has not been officially established. The fire did enormous environmental damage particularly to nesting birds and the mature bog flora of the area. The fire spread to all of field 4 and the lower half of field 3. Approx 30 birch and alder saplings, planted earlier in 2018, were damaged. By May however many of these had started to regrow from the ground level.
 |
| BIRCH TREE BURNT. |
 |
| BADLY BURNT BOG, FIELD 4 |
June, 2018. The garden allotment was undamaged by the earlier fire and by June this was progressing very well as the following pictures show.
 |
| The allotment has its first crops, June, 2018. |
June/July, 2018. From the middle of June until the middle of July a very unusual (for the West of Ireland) prolonged dry and hot period of weather prevailed. The survey listed below was undertaken during this time and the pictures taken at that time illustrate well the conditions prevailing then.
 |
Ireland and Britain cloud free. On June 27, 2018, satellites captured the data for the natural-color image above. It is a composite of scenes acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite and by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite. While the islands on that day were cloudless, the seas around them were blanketed by lumpy marine stratocumulus clouds. Note, too, the phytoplankton bloom in the North Sea. Source: NASA Earth Observatory <eo-announce@lists.nasa.gov> |
Croaghill Survey 27/6/2018
Undertaken
by Mia Griffith.
Wildflowers
Heath Spotted Orchid and/or Western Marsh orchid
Cats-Ear
Purple Clover
Buttercup
Speedwell (likely slender)
Common Birds Foot Trefoil
spear thistle
Marsh thistle
Cranes bill round leaf or Shining Crane’s bill
Lesser Stitchwort
Yellow Iris
Insects
Source: http://www.irishmoths.net/dragonflies.html
Birds
Source:
https://www.birdwatchireland.ie/IrelandsBirds/PipitsWagtails/MeadowPipit/tabid/1036/Default.aspx
 |
| The style looks very different to Oct '17. |
 |
| Rowan (Mountain Ash). |
 |
| Hazel. |
 |
| Orchids and Bird's foot trefoil, amongst a wide range of plants. |
 |
| Birds Foot trefoil and common rushes. |
 |
| Yew |
|
 |
| Scots Pine |
 |
| Elm |
 |
| When were potatoes last grown in this field? |
 |
This picture illustrates the very dry nature of the soil at this time, June 27, 2018.
August 2018.
The following pictures show some of the excellent potatoes and onions which grew in the allotment at Croaghill this year. Sunflowers also grew well as well as the oats patch. Even a few wheat plants grew well. When were these crops last grown at this field?
|
September, 2018. A method of keeping the tools dry was tried out near the allotment.
In September work commenced on the allotment plots to prepare them for planting again in spring 2019. In September also up to 4 pheasants were regularly feeding at or near the vegetable allotment. They proved impossible to photograph however.
During October more work was carried out preparing the vegetable allotment for next years crop. Plot 5 was seeded with a mixture of wheat and barley, as an experiment to see if these cereals will survive a west of Ireland winter as 'winter cereals'.
November 2018. We positioned a hunting camera close to the allotment for 2 days, Nov 8-10. The interesting images captured were of a Hare (Lepus timidus hibernicus) and of a Robin (Erithacus rubecula). Both are on a ridge in plot 2.
 |
| A hare caught on the wild-life camera. |
In the first week of winter 7 oak, 3 yew, 5 holly and 1 scots pine seedling were planted in fields 1 and 2. Most of these were sourced at the grounds of Charleston House, near Midleton.
As 2018 comes to a close a lot has been achieved at Croaghill this year.
Work during the year 2019.
The work commenced on Sunday 24th February when Darren, helped by his friend Ed planted 50 Alder, 50 Birch, 50 Scots Pine and 50 Oak in fields 2 and 3. February was a very mild month so these trees should have a good chance of establishing well after planting.
 |
Plan of planting in February 2019
|
On Friday 8th March Darren revisited Croaghill and planted significant lengths of hedging on both sides of field 3. He also planted a circle of Hazel whips in field 2.
 |
| Daffodils in bloom near the vegetable patch. |
 |
| Field3, Croaghill side. |
 |
| Field 3, Williamstown side. |
 |
| A wintry sky over field 3 after heavy overnight rain. |
 |
| A line of cabbage plants, sown in November '18, under cover of plastic milk containers, one has bolted. |
March/April 2019. More trees were planted as well as potatoes, beans and broccoli in the veg patches.
 |
| A scots pine seedling emerging from the boggy ground in field 4. The seed was one of 4 sown there last November. |
The following photographs show a range of the interesting life-forms to be found in Croaghill during the month of April.
 |
| Recovery after the fire of may 2018 |
 |
| The wildlife camera set-up. |
Mid-May 2019. John visited Croaghill between May 15 and 18th.
The previous 3 weeks had been exceptionally dry and this was affecting the growth of potatoes in the veg patch. There had also been some heavy night frosts and some oak saplings and ash saplings were showing signs of frost burn.
The following pictures show the land at that time:
 |
| This is the site chosen in field 3 for excavation a pond later this year. |
 |
| Frost burn on an ash sapling. |
 |
| Whitethorn blossoms in an adjacent field. |
 |
| A willow catkin. |
 |
| The vegetable patch in May 2019. |
 |
| Bog cotton, Eriophorum angustifolium, in full bloom. |
In June a neighbour's herd of cattle broke into the field. They did considerable damage to the vegetable plots, resulting in almost all the vegetables being destroyed. A few potato plants survived.
In August a new gate was hung at the entrance to the field which gave the location a very definite status.
Also for 4 days in August a wildlife camera was put in place at the entrance between fields 3 and 4. The one really interesting image to be captured is shown below. It is almost certainly a pinemarten,
Martes martes. This is a really interesting development.
The image has been expanded below and shows a clearer view of the pinemarten.
John did some work on the land in early October 2018. The weeks leading up to this had been very wet in the West of Ireland so making progress was difficult. Thursday 3rd October was National Tree Day, so to mark the occasion 3 apple and 1 oak saplings were planted on the boundaries of field 1 as shown in the following to photographs.
Plot 3 was dug in preparation for the 2020 sowing season, the following photos show the ground conditions pertaining at this time.
During the last week of October 2019, a short spell of clear, frosty weather took hold so John did some work there as follows:
Plots 1 to 3 were dug in preparation for spring planting and approx 45 acorns were sown in plot 3 some inside plastic tubes as an experiment to evaluate how this method may improve or hinder their growth. In autumn 2020 approx 30 walnuts were added to this plot.
The following photo shows a layer of marl (lock in the local lingo ) which underlies at a depth of approx 14cm most of the veg. plots.
Barbed wire fencing was put in place on the boundary along the entire length of the field as it meets the access boreen, see below.
Cattle had recently broke through this fence although they did no damage in the field.
A galvanised metal sheet was place by the entrance gate to act as a platform for lizards seeking the sun's heat during the sunny days.
The wildlife camera which had been positioned in 3 locations during this period produced no images on interest.
 |
| A late autumn scene in Croaghill showing a birch sapling in an area of moor grass in field 4. |
 |
| A HALLOWEEN scene, spiders webs on a gorse bush, highlighted by and early morning mist in a totally still environment. |
 |
| A worrying situation at the entrance to the field from the Ballinlough road, shows Japanese Knotweed growing in abundance. |
In late November the fences on the eastern side of fields 2 and 3 were significantly improved.
John worked at Croaghill on 30, 31st Dec. 2019 and 1st Jan. 2020. Plots 2 and 5 were deeply dug which meant that all plots are now prepared for use in the coming spring. A scots pine seedling was planted on Jan 1st in field 2 (by eastern boundary) to mark the new decade, as the following photos show:
During this time a helicopter was seen to take off and land frequently, from a field near Williamstown.
2020 Season.
Work commenced on Friday 7th February. John planted 18 trees including Elm, Common Cherry, Silver Birch, Sessile Oak, and Guilder Rose in fields 1 and 2. On Saturday Darren had arrived and we planted 2 Strawberry trees close to the entrance to Field 2, in what we call
the green belt. Later we placed 2 squirrel feed boxs in trees in the border fence between fields 2 and 3. This is to encourage any pine martens that are present to feed and may eventually use a nest box which pine martens will use to breed in. We also placed a wildlife camera near 1 box to record any activity closeby, (see below).
 |
Darren planting a strawberry tree.
|
On this visit also a photograph was taken from the entrance gate and it is hoped that a portfolio of photographs will be taken in future from this location to show the seasonal changes during the course of a year.
 |
| 3rd November, 2019. |
 |
WINTER VIEW from the entrance gate, 8th Feb.. 2020.
| Scene from gate 3rd May 2020
|
| | Early August 2020, below. |
 | February 2021, snow lies for the only time this spring..
|
 |
VIEW, from the entrance gate, May 2nd 2021.
View from gate 2nd August 2021.
View from the gate March 2022.
January and February were very wet months whereas the following three months until early June were noted for a lack of rainfall, with only about 30% of normal precipitation occurring at the nearest met stations.
Further planting of trees took place in the period 10th to 25th March. These included hedging plants and oak, alder, birch and mountain ash in fields 1, 3 and 3. The allotment was also prepared during this time for vegetable planting. A rainfall harvesting system was built near plot 5 as seen below.
|
|
A notable insect, a COCKCHAFER,was recorded in the area in May 2020, during the first lockdown of
the COVID pandemic.
 |
| Carrott from plot 1. |
 |
Strawberry tree with flowers, September, 2020
|
2021 Season. The five vegetable plots had been dug the previous autumn but as the spring of 2021 was very wet, soil working was not possible until April. Plots 4 and 5 were prepared for potatoes which grew very well subsequently. Onions, carrotts and sunflowers were planted in plot 1, with Oats, flax and peas in plot 2. Part of plot 3 had already been planted with a mixture of seedling and tree nuts (oak and wallnut) from the previous fall. The remainder of this plot was planted with cabbage, cauliflower, turnip and broccoli seeds in April. The month of May broke new records at most Irish met stations for the higher than normal rainfall and the lower than normal temperatures. As a result of this growth in the garden plots were very slow to develop. The potatoes were planted later than in 2020 so they had not emerged until the last days of May and so were unaffected by the night frosts.
 |
| Oak seedlings, plot 3, April 2021. |
During the fall of 2020 extensive use was made of 2 different wildlife cameras. It was clear from images obtained that a pine marten was a regular inhabitant of the area. A badger was also caught on camera. In March 2021 the pine-marten box was placed at the S-E corner of plot 2 and also put in place was an owl box. The following photos show some of the images capture taken at these locations.
 |
| Pine marten, Martes martes. |
 |
| Pine marten emerges from owl nest box. |
 |
| Pine marten emerges from entrance to PM nest box. |
 |
| A pine marten feeding on peanut butter smeared onto a feeding stick, near to the PM nest box. |
 |
| Blue tit on feeder box next to PM nest box. |
 |
| Dead shrew, found in 2020. |
January 2021, Layout of Vegetable plots for coming season.
 |
| Prepared potato ridges in plots 4 and 5, both images, March'21 |
 |
| Large hairy caterpillar |
 |
| Scarlet cup (Scarlet elf cap) Sarcoscypha coccinea. |
The Year 2022.
Sadhbh's tree in the context of field 1.
British Queens growing well in mid-May.
The potatoes were sprayed against Potato Blight twice during May.
Plot 2 having been let grow wild last year, now dug deep in preparation for potatoes in 2023.
The year 2023.
Growth conditions were very varied this year as a prolomged drought in June followed by very heavy rainfall in July and August hampered in particulat growth in the vegetable area.
 |
| Wild flowers growing in field 2. |
Hazel grew very well in field 2 during 2023.
 |
- Rush seed head with tiny parasitic worms emerging from the seeds.Ths has never been seen before in this area.
|
