Roscommon soil high in luvisols

For the most part, the landscape can be described as flat to undulating lowlands, with the parent materials of soils consisting mainly of glacial till of limestone composition. Luvisols, which are soils where clay has moved down the soil profile, are commonly associated with this landscape. This is typical from Boyle and Ballaghaderreen in the north, to the south of the county.

Eskers are a major landscape feature in Roscommon. These are long sinuous ridges of gravel or sand that were formed during the ice age and are therefore an irreplaceable landscape feature. Brown earths (free-draining soils) and lithosols (shallow soils) are commonly found on these landscape features.

On both borders, east and west, two major rivers form a natural boundary, the River Shannon to the east and the River Suck to the west. These areas are home to lowland raised bogs and industrial peat areas.

Distinctive drumlins

In the northeast, the distinctive drumlin lakelands extend in a southwesterly direction. Drumlins formed when unsorted glacial drift was deposited as the ice retreated at the end of an ice age.

The soil quality of a drumlin landscape relies largely on the parent material, but in general, they are considered difficult from an agricultural management viewpoint due to the slopes limiting the use of agricultural machinery. Here, the drumlin topography is associated with heavy, wet soils, such as surface-water gley. Between the drumlins, basin peat is a common feature.

Overall, luvisols are the most commonly found soil types in Co Roscommon. Luvisols are good agricultural soils due to their higher clay content, which means that they retain nutrients well.

However, the increase in clay in the subsoil can slow down the movement of water through the soil. This means that they can be moderately to imperfectly draining, depending on the soil texture.

Glacial drift

The most commonly found luvisols in this county are the ‘Elton’ series (found in association 1000a led by subgroup 1000).This association also includes surface-water gleys, stagnic brown earths (slowly permeable subsurface horizon) and calcareous brown earths on limestone glacial drift.

After luvisols, stagnic luvisols are the second most commonly found soil in Roscommon. Essentially, these soils share the properties of both luvisols and surface-water gleys.

These are found interspersed with luvisols, but can also be found to the north of Elphin and to the east of Roscommon town. They are also found in pockets in the northwest and south of the county.

Surface-water gleys are another prevalent soil found and the majority of these are the ‘Kilrush’ series (found in association 0700b led by subgroup 0700). These are found mostly in the northeast of the county, but are also found in areas to the east of Strokestown and to the west of Ballaghaderreen.