If you’ve read Part 1, you will know already how enchanted I was with Calf Island Middle, or Middle Calf as it is more familiarly known. In this post, I want to give you a flavour, via a slideshow, of what is it like to wander on this little paradise in Roaringwater Bay. The slides are fairly randomly ordered, but I hope they will transport you to the island. The music is by Enya, As Baile (Away from Home) from the Shepherd’s Moon album, used with permission.

Cormac and Áine are scientists and have systematically set about restoring the island to the habitat that it deserves. This has taken many years of experiment to find the right balance. If you do nothing, the bracken, gorse and brambles take over. If you overgraze, much of the biodiversity gets no chance to flourish. The trick is finding the right mix of herbivores to graze the island meadows. This they have accomplished with a judicious mix of horses (3), Kerry Bog Ponies (9) and sheep (40). Horses are heavy enough to trample the bracken and sheep devour the young ragwort that could harm the horses.

And the Kerry bog ponies? Well they are the magic in the mix. Light enough not to damage the meadows, sturdy enough to withstand island winters, and hungry and strong-jawed enough to devour the gorse and coarse heath grasses. Being a native Irish breed, they are uniquely adapted to Irish conditions and they are often used in conservation projects. The Calf Island herd has now expanded to other islands and habitats.

Cormac and Áine have shown us how to manage a delicate ecosystem and their careful stewardship of Middle Calf is something we can all be grateful for.