GARDAÍ ARE investigating the cause of a large gorse fire in the Cooley Mountains which has destroyed hundreds of acres of natural habitat including an EU-designated area of special conservation.
The fire has destroyed the habitat used by a pair of nesting peregrine falcons and the Merlin falcon, a more vulnerable and smaller bird of prey, has lost a lot of its nesting area. It is unclear how much of Ravensdale forest was damaged.
The fire raged for most of Saturday. Fire brigade services from Dundalk, Drogheda, Carlingford and Ardee spent the day bringing it under control.
A helicopter was used to dump water on the gorse and bracken and the rain which began on Saturday evening helped considerably.
The fire appears to have been deliberately set and gardaí in Dundalk are appealing for information from hillwalkers or anyone else who may have seen suspicious activity near Annaloughan mountain from 6pm on Friday.