page_title: Townlands of Kilcommon
section_title: Owenanirragh
hierarchical_section_title: Townlands of Kilcommon / Owenanirragh
caption_attribution_description: English: Bog cotton on Owenreagh Hill. A common sight in bogland in Ireland.
context_page_description: There are 37 townlands in the modern civil parish of Kilcommon, County Mayo, Ireland. Some of these are:
context_section_description: Owenanirragh (Irish: Abhainn na nIorach) td, meaning River of the Black Mud, is an isolated area of conifer plantation which lies 6 kilometres northeast of Glenamoy, Co. Mayo. It is one of the largest sites in the Bog Restoration project covering an area of 166 hectares, c. 100 hectares of which are planted with conifers. A portion of the site lies within the Glenamoy Bog Complex Special Area of Conservation. The blanket bog habitat within this SAC is one of the largest areas of the habitat in the country and is perhaps the best example of blanket bog occurring in an extreme oceanic environment. The SAC area, in general, has an excellent representation of typical blanket bog habitats. Of particular note is the occurrence of numerous flushes and streams, some of which are extensive and support rare plant species such as the moss Homalothecium nitens and the legally protected marsh saxifrage (Saxifraga hirculus).
  Much of the afforested portion of the site comprises relatively young conifer trees under which there still exists a bog flora, albeit modified and species-poor. A substantial area of high quality, unplanted blanket bog also occurs within the site and this area contains many large pools. The bog vegetation is generally dominated by purple moor-grass (Molinia caerulea) and black bog-rush (Schoenus nigricans) while the blanket bog pools are characterised by a sparse flora which includes bog bean (Menyanthes trifoliata), many-stemmed spike-rush (Eleocharis multicaulis) and pipewort (Eriocaulon aquaticum). The European distribution of this latter species is confined to lakes and pools in lowland blanket bog areas of Ireland and western Scotland. This area of bog has also a well- developed Sphagnum cover including some large hummocks of Sphagnum imbricatum and S. fuscum.
caption: Beautiful bog cotton – June/July
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image Make": "OLYMPUS CORPORATION", "Image Model": "C750UZ", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "v753u2-86", "Image DateTime": "2006:07:12 18:06:03", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "368", "Image CustomRendered": "Normal", "Image ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "Image WhiteBalance": "Auto", "Image DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "Image SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "Image GainControl": "None", "Image Contrast": "Normal", "Image Saturation": "Normal", "Image Sharpness": "Normal", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "958", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6653", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/800", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Creative", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "50", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2006:07:11 15:29:42", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2006:07:11 15:29:42", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "63/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "640", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "479", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed"}