Kerry Seas National Park, covering some 70,000 acres of land and sea along Ireland’s Kerry coast, is the country’s first marine national park, announced in April and now under development.
Páírc Náisiúnta na Mara, Ciarraí as it is called in Gaelic, includes a number of areas already under state ownership such as the limestone reefs of Kerry Head shoals and the waters around the Blasket islands.
The two government ministers announcing the park also said that the park’s heritage legacy would be further enhanced by the inclusion of lands on the Great Blasket Island, the globally significant UNESCO World Heritage property of Sceilg Mhichíl, and Derrynane House, Historic Park and Beach, which are managed by the Office of Public Works.
Further collaborations with BirdWatch Ireland, which manages Little Skellig and Puffin Island, and with the Commissioners of Irish Lights, which manages An Tiaracht Nature Reserve, ensure that these internationally important sites for seabirds are also an integral part of the Páirc, they said.
