North Slob An Slaba Thuaidh | |
|---|---|
Natural Reserve | |
 North Slob seawall | |
  North Slob Location in Ireland | |
| Coordinates:52°23′N6°23′W / 52.38°N 6.38°W /52.38; -6.38 | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Leinster |
| County | County Wexford |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (WET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (IST (WEST)) |
| Designations | |
|---|---|
| Official name | Wexford Wildfowl Reserve |
| Designated | 15 November 1984 |
| Reference no. | 291[1] |
TheNorth Slob is an area ofmud-flats at theestuary of theRiver Slaney atWexford Harbour,Ireland. The North Slob is an area of 10 km2 (2,500 acres) that was reclaimed in the mid-19th century by the building of asea wall.[2] It is the lowest geographical point on the island of Ireland.[3]
2 km2 (490 acres) of this reclaimed land is a nature reserve that is jointly owned and managed byBirdWatch Ireland and theNational Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) as theWexford Wildfowl Reserve (Irish:Anaclann Éanlaith Fiáin Loch Garman).[2][4] The reserve is open to the public.
The North Slob provides the winter home for 10,000white-fronted geese, about one third of the world population, whichmigrate toGreenland for the summer months.[5]
The Wexford Wildfowl Reserve was designated aRamsar site in 1984.[1] The North Slob is part of the Wexford HarbourSpecial Protection Area of 27.34 km2 (10.56 sq mi; 6,760 acres).
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 asThe Guinness Book of Records, has its origins in the North Slob. On 4 May 1951,Sir Hugh Beaver, then the managing director of theGuinness Breweries,[6] was on a shooting party in the North Slob when he became involved in an argument over which was the fastestgame bird in Europe, thegolden plover or thegrouse. That evening at Castlebridge House he realised that it was impossible to confirm in reference books whether or not the golden plover was Europe's fastest game bird.[7][8]He knew that there must be numerous other questions debated nightly in pubs in Britain and Ireland, but there was no book with which to settle arguments about records. He realised then that a book supplying the answers to this sort of question might prove popular.
The North Slob featured on the Open University and BBC'sCoast Programme.[9]