The assessment of 97,000ha spread out among 1,300 commonages has been completed in just over four months for the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES).
This means the commonage scoring in ACRES Breifne, ACRES Leinster and ACRES Munster / South Connacht regions has now been fully completed.
The assessment of commonages is undertaken by employees of the Hen Harrier Project, which is contracted to carry out this work by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
To assess the commonages on the Curragh Plains in Co. Kildare, which lies within the ACRES Leinster area, a total of eight staff were required to complete the scoring.
Leinster commonages
The latest ACRES commonage update stated: “The Curragh might not be a typical commonage but it was a fascinating place to finish the campaigns.
“The Curragh Plains sit on a bed of glacial gravels, the vegetation, a product of centuries of its geology, centuries of sheep grazing and very little fertiliser or herbicide use.”
While some lands have been lost due to the expansion of the military camp, the building of the M7 motorway and the Curragh racecourse, a very large commonage area, remains.
An area in the Curragh known as the blue lands are regularly used by the Defence Forces for training purposes, while the green lands are also used, but to a lesser extent.
Both areas are used by those who hold rights for sheep grazing, of which the numbers of sheep are limited to just two sheep per acre.
Grazing with cattle or horses is not allowed, although training and exercising of horses is permitted.
Today, the ACRES team said the Curragh remains one of the largest unenclosed areas of semi-natural grassland in Europe and is known for the diversity of the fungi species that can be found in the region.