Red Bog
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| Red Bog, Kildare | |
|---|---|
| An Mhóin Rua | |
  | |
| Location | County Kildare, Ireland |
| Nearest city | Newbridge |
| Coordinates | 53°11′47″N 6°32′07″W / 53.1965°N 6.53541°W |
| Area | 4.1 hectares (10 acres) |
| Governing body | National Parks and Wildlife Service |
The Red Bog (Irish: an Mhóin Rua) Special Area of Conservation or SAC is a Natura 2000 site in County Kildare, close to the town of Blessington in County Wicklow, Ireland.[1] The qualifying interests by which it is protected as an SAC are the presence of a specific habitat type: transitional mires and quaking bogs.[1][2][3]
The Red Bog SAC is located close to Blessington, County Wicklow, in the townland of Redbog, County Kildare. Schedule 1 of the Statutory Instrument for this site (S.I. No. 76/2018) identifies it as encompassing an area of 4.1 hectares.[3][4]
SAC qualification
The Red Bog site was designated as a Natura 2000 site in 2003 under the Habitats Directive.[2] Statutory Instrument No. 76 of 2018, establishing the site as an SAC (Site code: 000397), was passed in 2018.[3] According to the NPWS site synopsis, the feature which qualifies this site for an SAC designation is the presence of one specific protected habitat type, that of ‘Transition Mires’ (Natura 2000 code 7140).[4] The Biodiversity Information System for Europe web page for the site notes one protected habitat at the site: Bogs, mires and fens - specifically, transition mires and quaking bogs.[5] The EUNIS web page for this SAC, however, notes three protected habitats at the Red Bog site:[2]
- Natural eutrophic lakes with Magnopotamion- or Hydrocharition-type vegetation (Natura 2000 code 3150)
- Active raised bog (Natura 2000 code 7110)
- Transition mires and quaking bogs (Natura code 7140).
The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has included an area of 36.49 hectares at the Red Bog site as a proposed Natural Heritage Area or pNHA.[6] Very close to this site, Poulaphouca Reservoir SAC has also been included as a pNHA.
The Red Bog site was noted in the Goodwillie report of 1972 as being of ecological, botanical, and ornithological interest.[7] This report also noted that any drainage of the area would be significantly detrimental to the Red Bog lake, which was described as the most ecologically valuable lake in County Kildare.[7]