The formation of the island of Ireland was influenced by volcanic eruptions,
earthmoving forces and alternating periods of intense heat (interglacial) and
cold (glaciations). Ireland now enjoys a great diversity of landscape from
mountainous and rocky areas to stretches of green and fertile pastureland,
lakes, rivers and bogs.
Wicklow is most famous for its impressive landscapes. The county borders on
Dublin with the Wicklow Mountains dividing the two. The county has been
described as the 'Garden of Ireland'.
Irish fauna includes lichen, ferns, rushes, sedges, rushes and, of course, the
shamrock. There are also buttercups, primroses and heathers.
Among the birds on the island are gannets, gulls, razorbills, kestrals,
blackbirds and robins. Each winter some ten thousand white-fronted geese arrive
from Greenland to rest on sandbanks and islands of the Wexford Wildfowl Reserve.
Puffins are found on the Blasket Islands. The animals of Ireland are small, for
instance, the bat, grey squirrel, fox, badger, Irish otter and deer.