Croagh and Garvary River Landscape

Key Characteristics

• Isolated area of barren Pettigoe Plateau broken by small river valleys.
• Open moorland, small loughs and marginal agricultural land.
• Farmed by traditional practices including hay making, turbary and rough grazing.
• Extensive blanket bogs.
• Scattered small trees and shrubs in hedges. Coniferous forestry on Derrin Mountain.
• Small traditional farmhouses, many in poor condition.

Landscape Description

This small area to the north east of Belleek has a rough and rugged appearance, despite being less than 150m AOD. It lies on the edge of the Pettigoe Plateau, and is underlain by ancient metamorphic rocks. The plateau is scoured with many small loughs and rocky knolls, with the rounded summits of Croagh and Mallybreen Hill rising above. Blanket bog covers much of the landscape. The two principal rivers, the Garvary and the Woodford Rivers, have cut through small rounded glacial hills and terraces of sand and gravel. Lough Scolban and Keenaghan Lough lie on the southern boundary of the area and mark a change in the underlying geology between schist and limestone. Farming is concentrated on the boulder clay soils of the lower slopes and valleys, where there is a dense pattern of hedged fields and small farms. On the plateau, patches of boulder clay are associated with old enclosures and clumps of trees around ruined farmsteads. Many farms continue to be worked at low intensity, with a predominance of rough grazing and small hay meadows. Beyond the enclosed fields, moorland is worked for turf. In more remote areas however, blanket and raised bog remain intact and form important habitats. Forestry covers a large part of Derrin Mountain. Houses are loosely clustered in the valleys and around Lough Scolban. Small traditional unmodernised farmsteads survive, but other farmsteads are derelict. There are no villages in the area but there are small housing clusters in Derryrona and at the bridging point of the Garvary River. There is an absence of notable archaeological sites, apart from a few crannogs.

Landscape Condition and Sensitivity to Change

The plateau landscape has an abandoned feel with numerous derelict cottages and small farms and land which is returning to blanket bog and rough, rushy pastures. Field boundaries comprising earth banks give an interesting grain to the landscape but their replacement with wire fencing is out of character with the open moorland. Its unspoilt open character with little development is sensitive to change. The main pressure is forestry, as abandoned holdings are being replaced by conifer plantations. There are small sand and gravel pits at Lough Scolban. Blanket and raised bogs are some of the most intact in Fermanagh and are sensitive to extensive peat cutting. They are protected by ASSI, Ramsar, Special Protection Area (SPA) and Special Area of Conservation (SAC) designations.

Principles for Landscape Management

• Conservation of the unspoilt, wilderness character of the area, with its attractive natural landscapes of loughs, bogs and rocky knolls is best achieved through minimal disturbance and management.
• Continued grazing and mowing in certain areas will help retain the rich flora of marginal hay meadows.
• Care with the scale and location of peat cutting areas and the designation of the most intact areas of raised and blanket bogs for conservation will help protect this valuable resource.
• Commercial forestry plantations of small irregular size and shape, with deciduous planting at their edges and occupying the lower, least prominent land would be least damaging to the open character of the plateau landscape. They should avoid infringing upon the attractive settings of the area's loughs and rivers.
• The restoration of traditional earth banks or the replanting of hedges is preferable to the use of wire fences for stock proofing.
• Apart from the blacket bogs, the area's rivers and streams should be a priority for conservation; the focus should be the management of riverbank vegetation, monitoring of water quality and the enhancement of river-side features, such as stone bridges.

Principles for Accommodating New Development

• There is little evidence of demand for new development. However, the restoration of traditional dwellings of white painted stone and the siting of new buildings within former housing sites will help conserve landscape character.
• All new development should be associated with native tree planting.