Welcome to Oxford Island
Where A World of Discovery Awaits!
Oxford Island is located on the South-Eastern shores of Lough Neagh, County Armagh. Owned and managed by Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Council much of the area is designated as a National Nature Reserve due to the diversity and local importance of habitats such as reed beds, open water, wildlife ponds, forests and wildflower meadows.
Housing a number of facilities including a network of all access walking trails, bird watching hides, the Lough Neagh Discovery Centre, Kinnego Marina and the Kinnego Bushcraft Centre.
COVID-19
Toilet facilities at the Lough Neagh Discovery Centre are open Monday-Sunday from 9am to 5pm. The Loughside Café is usually open on Saturday and Sunday 10am to 3.30pm. Please phone the Lough Neagh Discovery Centre on 028 3832 2205 to confirm café opening times before your visit.
The Nature Reserve is open for walks. Gates open 9.00am-6.00pm.
Toilet facilities at Kinnego Marina are open Monday-Sunday from 9am-5pm. The Galley Café is open from Tuesday-Sunday 9.30am-4pm. Please phone Kinnego Marina on 028 3832 7573 to confirm opening times before your visit.
What's New At Oxford Island
Hello and welcome to the home page of The Oxford Island National Nature Reserve.
When out for a walk at Oxford Island this summer, look out for butterflies, bees, hoverflies and other pollinators flying over the wildflower meadows and at the edge of the woodland. Watch the swallows and house martins flying in and out from under the eaves at the Lough Neagh Discovery Centre catching flying insects for their young.
Check out our Events and Activities page for fun things to do with the family and visit our Facebook page to keep up to date with the latest info.
Lough Neagh Discovery Centre
Opened to the public in 1993 the Lough Neagh Discovery Centre can be found as you drive into the Oxford Island reserve. Crossing the small bridges across its ponds the Discovery centre has much to offer as a Tourist Information Centre with friendly, helpful staff and gift shop. We also offer conference centre facilities with a trio of conference rooms looking across the nature reserve and the Lough side Café where freshly cooked meals are on offer every day.
It is also home to the Conservation Service and Education Team who run extensive, environmental education programmes to schools and community groups across Northern Ireland.
For more information on the Lough Neagh Discovery Centre and it facilities please click here
Kinnego Marina
Home to the oldest Sailing club in Northern Ireland and with 190 fully sheltered berths Kinnego Marina is where you can set sail upon the waters of Lough Neagh and take in its natural beauty either in the comfort of your sail boat, caravan or even in one of our glamorous camping pods designed with the modern camper in mind.
Kinnego Marina also holds facilities for RYA training and HM lifeboat services along with equipment to help with the launching and recovering of your boat into and out of the Lough’s waters.
For more information regarding Kinnego Marina please click here
or visit
https://getactiveabc.com/facility/kinnego-marina/
Kinnego Bush Craft Centre
The Kinnego Bush Craft Centre offers courses and programmes on the practical skills of camp craft, building shelters, making fires, wild food and plant identification for fresh faced beginner through to veterans of the outdoor pursuits.
Kinnego Bush Craft also offer outdoor group bonding and team building workshops based around nature and basic survival principals along with how and why we should care for our surrounding environment.
Courses provided my Kinnego Bush Craft Centre include:
• Family Bush Craft Courses
• Young Survivalist Courses
• Two Day Bush Craft Course
• Wildlife Walkabout Trip
• Junior Expedition
• Introduction To Survival
• Survivor Man Courses
For more information on Kinnego Bush Craft Centre please click here
Conservation Services and Education Programmes
The Conservation and Heritage service is based in the Lough Neagh Discovery Centre at the beautiful Oxford Island National Nature Reserve.
We work across a wide range of areas contributing to the protection and enhancement of the natural environment of the Craigavon area, local history and heritage and we manage the Lough Neagh Discovery Centre for the enjoyment of local people and visitors from much further afield.
Biodiversity Team
The team contributes to the management of the following areas:• Oxford Island National Nature Reserve
• Slantry Wood Local Nature Reserve
• Silverwood Meadows
• City Parks Local Nature Reserve
• Annagh Meadows
• Kernan Meadows
• Parkmore
• Legahory and Taghnevan
We also carry out a variety of survey work, Manage the Action for Biodiversity INTERREG IVA project and a range of other Biodiversity Projects.
For more information on the work of the Biodiversity Team please click here
The interpretive team is responsible for:
• An extensive education programme
• Developing and delivering a wide variety of events and activities
• Interpretation of the Lough Neagh Discovery Centre including exhibitions
• Supporting schools and groups in the Borough on a variety of sustainable development projects, including the internationally recognised Eco-Schools programme.
For more information on education programmes, events and how to book please click here