“(S)He who plants a tree,
plants a hope.”
Ireland was once the most forested country in Europe, but today just 2% of our old native woodland remains. 11% of our land has been planted up with 71% conifers and 29% broadleaves. Most of them are non-native monocultures.
The History of the Reeks.
After doing an Natura Impact and Archaeological Impact Assessment, we finally had proof that the mountains of the MacGillycuddy Reeks in Co. Kerry were once covered in trees. This was the birth of our Native Woodlands project in 2019!
The assessment revealed that a survey was undertaken in 1656‐1658, the so-called Down Survey. The Down Survey was a national land survey, managed by Sir William Petty then surgeon‐general of the English army. Its purpose was to measure the land that was to be forfeited by Irish Catholics, so that it could be redistributed by the Crown as payment to adventurers and soldiers of the Protestant faith for services rendered. The survey generated an all‐island map, and more detailed maps on a county, barony, and civil parish basis. The owner of the townland of Curragh More in 1641 is listed as Owen O’Sulleyvanmore (O’Sullivan More) (Catholic). In 1670 the owner is James Napper (Protestant).
“The land is described as ‘220 plantation acres’, which suggests that this was profitable land. Given that this was mountain land, it is likely that this was covered in forestry at the time.”, describes archaeologist Frank Coyne (MA HDip MIAI).
We believe to plant diverse native forest is vital, that’s why we plant the most biodiverse species range available and work within the current Native Woodlands scheme guidelines. Our promise is that trees will not be felled or sold and will be protected with Tubex treeguards.
We also believe in order to have a maximum impact it’s essential to not exploit peoples goodwill by overpricing trees for adoption. We are a community of local farmers, rangers and foresters, and plant the trees ourselves. This is why we are able to cover all of our costs while still keeping our prices low.
The MacGillycuddy Reeks and The Kerry Way are some of Kerry‘s biggest tourist attractions. Each year hundreds of thousands come to visit. By planting trees in Curraghmore, passing hikers will also get the unique opportunity to experience and see what these landscapes were like prior to the increase in industrialization during the 16th century.
This project is supported by the MacGillycuddy Reeks European Innovation Partnership Project (EIP) and IrishExaminer.
We are hoping to provide future educational and research opportunities for the next generation here in Curraghmore, Co.Kerry (Ireland).
The Planting Sites
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Agroforestry: Alder, Birch, Fruit trees
Planting season 2024-25.
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Mixture type: Integrated Mix
Species Type: Sessile oak (50%), Birch (30%), Hazel (15%), Scot Pine (15%)Pending. Planting season 2024-26.
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Mixture type: Integrated Mix
Species Type: Sessile oak (50%), Birch (30%), Hazel (15%), Scot Pine (15%)Pending. Planting season 2024-25
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Mixture type: Integrated Mix
Species Type: Sessile oak (30%), Birch (20%), Hazel (15%), Scot Pine (15%), Hawthorn (5%), Strawberry Tree (5%), Crabapple (5%), Wild Cherries (5%)Complete. This plot was self-funded.
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Mixture type: Integrated MixSpecies Type: Alder (20%), Birch (30%), Hazel (20%), Hawthorn (20%), Wild Cherries (5%), Holly (5%)
Complete. Funded by Irish Examiner.
Meet the trees.
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Sessile Oak (Quercus petraea)
Commonly known as the sessile oak, Cornish oak, Irish Oak or durmast oak, is a species of oak tree native to most of Europe and into Anatolia and Iran. The sessile oak is a large deciduous tree up to 20–40 m (66–131 ft) tall.
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Downy Birch
It is a deciduous tree growing to 10 to 20 m (33 to 66 ft) tall (rarely to 27 m), with a slender crown and a trunk up to 70 cm (28 in) (exceptionally 1 m) in diameter, with smooth but dull grey-white bark finely marked with dark horizontal lenticels.
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Holly (Ilex aquifolium)
Mature trees can grow up to 15m and live for 300 years. The bark is smooth and thin with lots of small, brown 'warts', and the stems are dark brown.
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Hazel (Corylus avellana)
The hazel is a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The fruit of the hazel is the hazelnut. Hazels have simple, rounded leaves with double-serrate margins.
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Rowan
The rowans or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus Sorbus of the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the Himalaya, southern Tibet and parts of western China, where numerous apomictic microspecies occur.
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Scot Pine
The Scots pine is found from Western Europe to the far-east of Russia, and from northern Scandinavia to the mountains of southern Europe (Pyrenees, Alps and Balkan Mountains). The Scots pine is a medium-sized conifer, reaching 30-35 m in height, only exceptionally over 40 m, and 50-130 cm in diameter. The life-span of this pine is about 250 years, sometimes up to 400 years.