A Thousand Welcomes

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Redwood trees in California

Darragh Murphy asks “Why is just 10 per cent of Ireland covered in trees?

Crann – Trees for Ireland is a voluntary organisation whose aim is to promote the planting of trees, especially those native to Ireland. A joint initiative, of which I am the project group chairwoman, in partnership with Birr Castle, is Giants Grove (giantsgrove.ie), the planting of a thousand redwood trees in the grounds of Birr Castle in Co Offaly.

Redwoods were once native to Ireland, and at Birr we are bringing them “back home”, creating the largest plantation of giant and coastal redwoods outside of California.

Crann’s patron, President Michael D Higgins, said at the launch of Giants Grove, “The planting of these mighty trees, here, at the heart of Ireland, is not just an extraordinary silvicultural undertaking. It has been devised to symbolise, too, the abiding bonds that unite those who have passed away and their loved ones and the equally strong bonds through which Irish people all over the world are connected to this island”.

He further said: “We all know how vital trees, forests, and woodlands in general are to our collective future”.

These redwoods will be growing for the next thousand years, creating the perfect ecosystem, of which we can all be proud.

Clara Clark,
(Chairwoman, Project Management Group, Giants Grove),
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.

Trees and the long-term view (Irish Times letters page)

Giants Grove

Pic: Lonely Planet

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25 thoughts on “A Thousand Welcomes

  1. dav

    Without getting into the 800 years and all that. I suspect a lot of Irish wood ended up in the Royal Navy over the centuries..

      1. dav

        well if Bertie Ahern still has a job with Coilte, who knows where that wood would end up..

    1. jimmy

      And many of the planks joined the public sector as well
      But seriously I did not know redwood trees were native to Ireland
      Apparently during the height of the British empire whole forests were decimated all for the navy both in the UK and all over the empire

      1. ReproBertie

        The Brothers taught us that the forests were cut down by Liz to make ships to fight the Spanish Armada.

        Personally I’m skeptical about just how much of Ireland was covered in forest.

        1. Rob_G

          I’m sure that it was all covered by forests at one stage, but that it was cleared for agriculture over the centuries.

          I’m sure that the Brits chopped down some trees, but I think that the narrative “the Brits stole our trees!!!” is a little too neat and simplistic.

  2. Robert

    Should be ready just in time for when society finally starts to rebuild after the cataclysm.

    1. dav

      hopefully it will be some other species, I think we’ve caused too much damage already, let something else do better.

    2. jimmy

      if we burn them then our greenhouse emissions go up and apparently trees contribute 30% of the methane
      Which contributes to greenhouse gasses
      So lads we need concrete
      Not trees
      Only joking

  3. Termagant

    “silvicultural”

    I don’t care how well read he is there’s no way he didn’t have to look that one up

  4. CoderNerd

    Didn’t the british use Ireland’s trees to build their navy?
    And then Bertie Ahern tried getting his paws on the rest.

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