The Unique Habitat of Ballindooley Lough

Ballindooley Lough is one of the most beautiful and most unique natural areas of Galway City. The lake is still surrounded by agricultural land comprising small fields separated by traditional dry stone walls. There is a mosaic of ecologically important habitats each with their own set of wildlife including karst limestone rock formations, meadows, woodland, peatland, wetland and lake. Ballindooley Lough is the finest as well as being the largest example of 'turlough' inside the municipal boundaries. A turlough ('dry lake' in Irish) is a type of lake that exists in porous limestone regions characterised by huge seasonal variations in water cover largely dictated by rainfall. In summer or in a dry spell, a turlough can be reduced to a minute area compared to its winter expanse.
In June 2006 the famed ecologist, Mr Gordon D'Arcy, brought pupils from our school on a fascinating guided tour of the Lough and its surrounding hinterland.

Use all Your Senses to Appreciate 'Nature'

Before we started our walk, Gordon asked us to use all our senses of 'touch', 'smell', 'sound' as well as 'sight' to enjoy the wonders of the plants and animals that we will encounter.

He said that the sound of a bird, the smell of a flower or the feel of a bog below our feet were just as important as looking at them.

Thanks to his advice, the walk became a voyage of discovery!

Even the Rocks are alive!

We first visited what looked like fields of rock. Gordon said that the rock was known as limestone and showed that the area millons of years ago once formed the bottom of an ocean!
For limestone is made up of the remains of plants and animals that lay on the sea floor and were over time comprised together to form a hard rock.
To prove his point he showed us many examples of the outlines of shellfish in the limestone.


Animal Detective in Action!
Later he moved alongside a stone wall and pointed out some scratches at one of its lowest point. Gordon explained that these markings were made by the nails of animal paws as they crossed the wall. Wow!
We then walked along a lane where on one side there was a traditional drystone wall and on the other a modern concrete wall. Gordon told us to look at both and judge what type was best for wildlife. We all agreed that the drystone was the best- it was alive with flowers, plants and its porus structure would be great for allowing small animals such as mice and vole to move through it. On the other hand, the concrete structure was totally devoid of life.

The Meadow
From the limestone plains, we climbed a small wall and arrived in a lush meadow where we marvelled at the high grasses, the insects, the wild flowers and of course the cows! After we all ran down a hill, Gordon had us stop, pick up some plants and examine them using our senses.
As we got closer to the lake, the ground got softer and wetter. Gordon asked us to jump up and down. This we did and we felt like we were moving on top of a giant sponge.
We picked up some flowers that Gordon called 'orchids' and 'thistles' and are common in boggy or damp meadows.



The Bog
When we got to the lake, we could see on the side of the banks different coloured layers of peat. 'Peat' is a clay type substance made of decomposing plants and is found in wet land. Gordon says that this shows the lake is getting smaller as the area is changing from solid water to one of just being waterlogged known as a 'bog'. He pointed to a piece of higher ground that was covered in trees. This he said was known in Irish as a 'crannog'-an island made by local people in the middle of a lake. They transported large rocks and earth in boats and dumped them until the material reached above the waterline. Then they build dwellings for themselves and their cattle. These crannogs offered extra protection in times of war.