“Ireland’s got this absolute jewel of a National Park”

from WE ARE KILLARNEY MAGAZINE 2023

Wild KILLARNEY at it best

Now aged 96, he is renowned for his encyclopedic knowledge of nature which has inspired several top-rated television documentaries.

One episode of his most recent documentary ‘Wild Isles’ zoomed in on local nature, wildlife and the magnificent scenery that can be enjoyed in the 26,000-acre Killarney National Park, which featured extensively and in remarkable detail, as well as the west coast for the new series that has attracted millions of views.

The programme showing Killarney was televised on BBC One – to an estimated seven million people in March 2023. It is also available on BBC iPlayer.

Several walking trails winding through lakes, glens, waterfalls and forests, against a striking mountain backdrop, were featured.

Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce Senior Executive, Bridget O’Keeffe, said it is a wonderful compliment to the Park that such a legendary conservationist and broadcaster chose Killarney for his latest series.

“This is hugely significant, and it will be a major advantage in showcasing the charms and the beauty of the National Park to such a wide audience around the world, both on the BBC and online,” she said.

The camera crews captured superb footage of stags battling ferociously during the deer rutting season in the Park.

“Ireland’s got this absolute jewel of a National Park and I’m sure that many people recognise that. What a national heritage. What a fantastic thing to be able to be proud of,” said producer and director Nicholas Gates.

Filmed over three years and using the very latest technology, the five-part series explores and celebrates the beautiful wildlife found in Britain and Ireland with different habitats featured, including woodlands, grasslands, freshwater and marine.

The Killarney segment, only four or five minutes in length, captured the spectacle and violence of the Park’s world-famous deer rut – a tourism event in itself these days.

“Red deer have a might about them but if you’re not familiar with them as a creature, then you don’t know that might, you don’t know the power,” said director Nick Gates. “Even when they’re fighting you don’t feel the weight. The moment they hit the water, you feel the weight because it explodes. There’s nothing fluffy, nothing little, about those two great beasts going at it.”

Search ‘Wild Isles’ on the BBC iPlayer and scroll to Episode 3 ‘Grasslands’ to see just how impressed David Attenborough was with what he witnessed in Killarney National Park.