Teal Lough

This site is of interest because it contains three sites of lowland raised bog within an area of blanket peat, which together are thought to be the most extensive and least disturbed examples of this habitat type in Northern Ireland. The largest of these bogs, at Teal Lough, probably has the finest hummock and pool complex of any raised bog in Northern Ireland. On all the bogs there are scattered large hummocks of  Sphagnum together with other bryophytes. The bog pools also support a number of locally uncommon vascular plant species, including Lesser Bladderwort and Oblonged Leaved Sundew.

The surrounding blanket bog is characterised by the greater abundance of dwarf-shrubs, particularly Heather and Crowberry, growing over a dense acidophilous, or acid-tolerant, bryophyte carpet on the drier slopes. This becomes intermixed with swards of Purple Moor-grass on wetter flushed slopes.

Although the range of species present is limited by the naturally exposed and oligotrophic conditions, the bog supports a notable upland peatland insect fauna. A large colony of the Large Heath Butterfly is known to be centred on the intact bog area. The upland pondskater Gerris costai, a characteristic but local species of bog pools, is also common, and the shorebug Salda muelleri, for which there are few Irish records, has been found on areas of bare peat on the bog surface. The lakes on the bog support an upland oligotrophic community of aquatic insects.

There is no public access to this site.