largely use the mainland shores of the lake. Freshwater marshes exist in many places around the shore but extensive reed-beds stretching out into the lake are rare. The margins of the marshes are mostly sedge dominated by such species as bottle sedge, bladder-sedge, tufted-sedge, common-sedge and occasionally water-sedge, water horsetail, marsh cinquefoil and bur-reeds also occur commonly. Also on the fringes occurs a more varied community characteristic of base-poor areas, with such species as marsh ragwort, lesser spearwort, devil's-bit scabious, marsh-bedstraw and hoary willowherb, creeping bent, sweet vernal-grass, Yorkshire fog and purple moor-grass. Cuckooflower occurs commonly and bog violet and greater spearwort are to be found in places. Stretches of the shore with muddy or stony substrates provide niches for bur marigold and the scarce tasteless water-pepper and small water-pepper. The lake supports nationally important numbers of great cormorant (averaging around 200) and notable concentrations of whooper swan, wigeon, teal, mallard, grey heron and lapwing. Curlew and lapwing also nest in the fringing marshes. The plant communities along the lake margins are of note and combine with over wintering bird numbers to make Lough Ramor an important wetland site. Early Christian settlements References to an early Christian foundation in the Loch Muinreamhair area are found in the Martyrology of Donegal, where 6 February is recorded as the festival of Saints Brandubh and Coluim of Loch Muinreamhair. There is a similar entry in the Felire of Gorman and other undated Irish Calendars. It is thought that these people flived shortly after the introduction of Christianity, during the fifth century. It is assumed that an island or crannog was used as the initial foundation for the early church in Loch Muinreamhair. One such island has the remains of medieval ecclesiastical associations, its early name is not recorded, but since the early eighteenth century it has been known locally as Woodward's Island, after a prominent Kells family who built a villa upon the island. The medieval island church belonged to the Augustinian Abbey of St. Mary's in Ceannannus (Kells), an Anglo-Norman institution, not to be confused with the early Columban Abbey of Ceannannus that was founded by Saint Columcille. There was a local tradition that some of the early period monks who lived on the island were killed by thieves who plundered the church. The Augustinians acquired the site, probably during the 13th century, after the ecclesiastical diocese boundaries were changed to include