COUNTRY
Ireland
63 layers, 12 free
Presets
One tap switches on a set built for a real question.
Desk study
The designations an Irish ecologist checks first: SACs and SPAs (the sites behind Appropriate Assessment screening), Natural Heritage Areas and proposed NHAs, Ramsar sites, statutory Nature Reserves and Refuges for Fauna, National Parks, and ancient & long-established woodland. The opening move of an EcIA or AA screening: what is protected on or near the site.
9 layers
Habitats
Ireland's habitat evidence base: ancient & long-established woodland, the National Survey of Native Woodlands, the Irish Semi-natural Grasslands Survey, coastal lagoons and freshwater pearl mussel sensitive catchments: with SACs for statutory context. Survey layers are classified to Fossitt, the scheme Irish habitat reports are written in.
7 layers
Woodland
Everything wooded in Ireland: the Ancient & Long-established Woodland inventory and the National Survey of Native Woodlands habitat polygons, with SACs on for the designated oak woods. Long-established woodland is irreplaceable habitat: whether a wood appears on the first-edition OS map is usually the first thing a client needs to know.
3 layers
Coastal & wetland
The Irish coast and its wetlands: coastal lagoons (a priority Annex I habitat), Ramsar sites, and the SPAs and SACs that sit over almost every estuary: with statutory Nature Reserves, which in Ireland are so often coastal. The set for intertidal, estuary and wetland bird work.
5 layers
Groundwater & geology
Aquifers, vulnerability, subsoils, bedrock and radon.
20 layers
Heritage
Recorded monuments, notification zones and the NIAH survey of buildings: the evidence base, not the statutory list. Records of Protected Structures and Architectural Conservation Areas (Part IV, Planning and Development Act 2000) are held by the 31 local authorities and are not in the app.
11 layers
Angling & water
Salmonid waters, water-body status, the catchments feeding them, and which agricultural pressure each sub-basin needs work on. Ireland runs a WHOLE-TERRITORY Nitrates Action Programme (S.I. 113/2022), so there are no NVZ lines to look for: the sub-basin flags are the risk differentiation other countries get from zone boundaries.
14 layers
Farming
Nutrient planning for Irish farms: where nitrate and phosphorus are most likely to reach water (the EPA's high-rank critical source areas), which agricultural pressure each sub-basin needs work on, groundwater vulnerability, soils, wells and septic-tank risk. Ireland runs a whole-territory Nitrates Action Programme, so risk grades come from these layers rather than from NVZ boundaries.
8 layers
Visiting
Waymarked trails, monuments worth a journey and clean water to swim in.
11 layers
Layer by layer
Designations · 21
STATUTORY
HISTORIC
NATURA 2000
GEOLOGICAL HERITAGE
PLANNING
Habitats · 6
GRASSLAND
COASTAL
HABITAT MAPPING
- Hen Harrier SPA Habitat MappingPRO
- CORINE Landcover 2024IN THE APP ONLY
Access · 1
PATHS & TRAILS
Landscape · 31
GEOLOGY & SOILS
WATER
- River Status (WFD)PRO
- Septic Tank Inspection Zone 2 (Ireland)PRO
- Lake Status (WFD)PRO
- Estuary Status (WFD)PRO
- Coastal Water Status (WFD)PRO
- Groundwater Status (WFD)PRO
- Blue Dot CatchmentsPRO
- Salmonid WatersPRO
- Shellfish Waters (Ireland)PRO
- Drinking Water Protected AreasPRO
- River Catchments (Ireland)PRO
- Subcatchments (Ireland)PRO
- Bathing Waters (Ireland)FREE
- Groundwater VulnerabilityPRO
- Bedrock AquifersPRO
- Sand & Gravel AquifersPRO
- Groundwater RechargePRO
- Source Protection Areas (Ireland)PRO
- Groundwater Protection SchemesPRO
INDUSTRY & WASTE
Land-Based Schemes · 3
Publishers
Every layer names its publisher and licence. These are the agencies behind this country.
| Publishers | The layers | Licence |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland) | 20 | CC-BY 4.0 |
| Geological Survey Ireland | 14 | CC BY 4.0 |
| NPWS / Government of Ireland | 12 | CC BY 4.0 |
| National Monuments Service (Government of Ireland) | 8 | CC-BY 4.0 |
| National Inventory of Architectural Heritage | 2 | CC-BY 4.0 |
| DHLGH / Government of Ireland | 2 | CC BY 4.0 |
| Tailte Éireann | 1 | CC-BY 4.0 |
| Sport Ireland Outdoors | 1 | CC-BY |
| Teagasc / Environmental Protection Agency | 1 | CC-BY 4.0 |
| GBIF.org | 1 | occurrence records, each under its own CC0 or CC-BY licence; see the record for its dataset |
| Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage | 1 | CC BY 4.0 |
Known gaps, stated plainly
What is not here, and why. These lines come from the app and are removed the day a layer ships.
- The OPW's national flood maps are not included in this app: their terms restrict commercial reuse and OPW has not granted permission for this app. GSI's groundwater flood maps are withheld under CC BY-NC-ND; permission for use in this app has been requested.
- No Record of Protected Structures or Architectural Conservation Areas yet: each local authority keeps its own.
PRO
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