The Raven, Co Wexford, Ireland
Created | Updated Jul 29, 2019
The Raven is a narrow strip of land covered in forest on the coast of Wexford. It run in a north/south direction and has the Irish Sea on its east side. The southern tip of the Raven is known as Raven Point and it marks the point where Wexford Harbour, the esturary of the river Slaney meets the sea.
The west side of the Raven was in the past the mud flats of the Slaney Estuary - a place known as the North Slobs. "Slob" is a local word meaning an expanse of mud. In the late 19th century, a sea wall was built west from Raven Point for about 3km. This enclosed the hole of the North Slobs. A pumping station was set up ad the far end of the sea wall, and the slobs were drained to make farming land. The area to the west of the Raven is now among the best farming land in County Wexford.
The Raven itself is a giant series of sand dunes. It is unusual for a forest to be found on such a foundation. The forest is in fact artificial. It was planted in the 1930s as an experiment to see if such a use of the land was sustainable. Lots of different types of trees were planted, including some really unusual ones such as Araucaria "Monkey Puzzle", a spiky plant from South America. It was eventually decided that the Raven was not suitable for forestry. The forest has been abandoned - as trees collapse they are not replaced and eventually the land should revert to its natural state similar to other dunes along the east coast of Wexford.
Geese
Some time in the al
It is made of sand dunes and covered by a forest. Historically, it was a long narrow headland which jutted southwards, with open sea on its east side and and the estuary of the river Slaney (known as Wexford Harbour) on its west. The southern tip of the Raven is known as Raven Point.
The west side of the Raven was in the past the mud flats of the Slaney Estuary - a place known as the North Slobs. "Slob" is a local word meaning an expanse of mud. In the late 19th century, a sea wall was built west from Raven Point for about 3km. This enclosed the hole of the North Slobs. A pumping station was set up ad the far end of the sea wall, and the slobs were drained to make farming land. The area to the west of the Raven is now among the best farming land in County Wexford.
The Raven itself is a giant series of sand dunes. It is unusual for a forest to be found on such a foundation. The forest is in fact artificial. It was planted in the 1930s as an experiment to see if such a use of the land was sustainable. Lots of different types of trees were planted, including some really unusual ones such as Araucaria "Monkey Puzzle", a spiky plant from South America. It was eventually decided that the Raven was not suitable for forestry. The forest has been abandoned - as trees collapse they are not replaced and eventually the land should revert to its natural state similar to other dunes along the east coast of Wexford.
Geese
Some time in the al
It is made of sand dunes and covered by a forest. Historically, it was a long narrow headland which jutted southwards, with open sea on its east side and and the estuary of the river Slaney (known as Wexford Harbour) on its west. The southern tip of the Raven is known as Raven Point.
