OAK   Sessile oak Quercus petraea                                              Dair ghaelach                                                                                               Pedunculate oak Quersus robur Dair ghallda         Both pedunculate and sessile oak are native to Ireland and most of Europe. Oak colonised Ireland after the last Ice Age and like most native species it went into decline in the 17th Century. It remains the most widespread broadleaved species. Its historical prevalence can be judged by the number of placenames featuring oak, which is estimated to be over 1,600. These range throughout the country: Derry (Doire or oak wood), Valentia (Dairbhe or place of the oaks), Edenderry (Doire or hillbrow of the oak wood), Kildare (Cill dara or church of the oaks) and Durrow (Daru or oak plain). There is little difference between the wood of sessile and pedunculate oak. Sapwood is pale cream and heartwood ranges from yellowish brown to deep brown. Growth rings are obvious due to alternating bands of large pored early wood and dense late wood, and produce a flare pattern on flat sawn surfaces. Fast grown oak is tough and hard, slow grown somewhat weaker but easy to work. Grain is normally straight, but can be irregular. Oak coppices freely but coppicing is rarely practised toady. It is deep rooting and wind firm. It should be felled during the dormant season (November to February) as the timber may be susceptible to attack by fungi and insects if harvested during the growing season. Oak is ideal for furniture and cabinetry, joinery, panelling, flooring, construction, veneers, exterior trim and cladding, boat building, fencing and railway sleepers.

ASH Fraxinus excelsior Fainseog     While oak nay be the national tree of Ireland, ash could well claim this distinction. Oak may well out number it in semi-natural woodlands and placenames around the country, but in many respects, ash is a tree that is closer to the Irish consciousness. It resonates sound, movement, rhythm and touch. It is the wood for hurley, oar and tool handle manufacture. Its rootedness in Irish culture dates back to a time when it was revered as a sacred tree and to its emergence as Class 1 in the Old Irish Tree List alongside the other nobles of the wood. Ash is a species particularly suited to farm forestry because many farmers will have greater knowledge of its site requirements than most other tree species. From watching it grow well on hedgerows and in groups, farmers and foresters will know instinctively that while it will survive on many sites, it will only thrive on fertile moist land. Ash is widespread in Ireland but grows particularly well in Counties Tipperary, Meath, Kildare and parts of Cork, Clare, Kilkenny, Waterford and Galway. There are however excellent localised pockets of ash in most counties extending north. For example a property in Ballykelly Forest, Co. Derry is known locally as Caman Wood because of its long tradition of supplying hurley ash.

BIRCH   Silver birch Betula pendula Beith gheal     Downy birch Betula pubescens Beith chiumhach     Both silver and downy birch are extremely hardy and are pioneer species. A pioneer species is the first species to colonise land previously bare of tree cover. After pioneer species become established, they initiate an ecological cycle which allows other species to colonise the area. These in turn take over from the pioneer species. Birch has an attractive foliage and bark and it is easy to see why the poet Coledridge called it “the lady of the forest”. The two species of birch are native to Ireland. Silver birch is more prominent on the better solid, while downy birch tends to be associated with mountains and hills. Birch is a valuable timber species in Scandinavia where it is used for furniture, veneer, plywood and household implements. Non-commercial lengths provide excellent firewood while branches are used for steeplechase jumps and besom (brooms) heads. Birch is now being recognised as a timber tree in Ireland and is used for furniture making, albeit in a small scale.

Alder     Alnus glutinisa Fearnog   Common alder grows widely in Ireland especially in damp areas beside lakes, streams and riverbanks. It appears as Class 2 (commoner of the wood) in the Old Irish Tree List.   Places such as Ferns in Co. Wexford are derived from its Irish name – fearnog. Another Wexford connection was the manufacture of clogs made from alder up until the beginning of the last century.   Alder is a fast growing species and is usually harvested before 50 years. This is close to its maximum lifespan although there are plenty of examples of old specimen trees throughout the country.   In keeping with is wetland image, alder stakes resist decay when submerged in water. The timber has a reddish brown colour and is used for woodturning and furniture.

Wild Cherry     Prunus avium Crann silini  fiain   Wild cherry is native to Ireland and Europe where it is prized as a valuable timber species especially in the manufacture of high quality timber.   It is a strikingly beautiful tree when in full bloom and its fruit is an excellent source of food for birds.   The wood is durable and polishes extremely well. It is used for a wide range of high end uses including furniture, joinery and veneer.

Scots pine.     Pinus sylvestris Peine Albanach   Scots pine is the only native Irish conifer that has a commercial value as a forest tree. It has little opposition as there are only two other native conifers in Ireland: juniper and yew. Juniper is at best a bush and while yew has considerable cultural, medicinal and specialised wood qualities, commercial timber production is not one of them.   Scots pine was a major tree in Ireland’s primeval forests but almost died out. It experienced a revival from the 18th century and during the period from 1920 to 1951, it was once again a major tree in Irish forestry, reaching a third of all planting programmes during peak years.   It had a spectacular fall from grace in the late 190s and was rarely planted up until recent times. However it is now once again being introduced in projects undertaken under the Native Woodlands Scheme.   Scots pine entered Ireland after the last glacial period and covered wide areas of the country up to 1500 BC when it began to go into decline.   Climate change leading to the formation of peat coupled with burning and ground clearance for agricultural development are believed to have been the main causes for its demise.   Scots pine was an important tree in medieval Irish culture. It features as one of the airig fedo or ‘nobles of the wood’ and was highly prized because it produced resin commercially.   Whether or not it died out completely has long been debated by botanists and foresters. The botanists Augustine Henry believed that it did. In a publication, Tree Planting in Ireland During Four Centuries AC Forbes, the forester who established the Avondale arboretum, maintained that “it may have survived as a native tree long enough to have been propagated in nurseries”.   Scots pine – or red deal as it is known in the timber trade – is suitable for a wide range of high value end uses. It machines well and is used for joinery, furniture and flooring.   If treated with preservatives it has an extensive range of external uses including transmission poles, fencing stakes, posts, gates, railway sleepers and decking.

YEW     Taxus baccata Iur   One of the only three native conifers, yew is found in old woods, and in the vicinity of churches and cemeteries.   A unique form of Irish yew (‘fastigiata’) with upright growth was cultivated in Florencecourt in 1778. This provides cuttings for nurseries throughout the world.   Reenadinal Wood on the Muckross Peninsula, Co. Kerry, is the only pure yew woodland in Ireland. There is confusion about the poisonous nature of yew. Charles Nelson says that the “juicy outer cup of the fruit and the kernel inside the seed are wholesome… whereas the leaves and the seed coat must be treated as potentially injurious”.   Some of the oldest trees in Ireland are yews and it is likely that yew trees growing in Bunclody, Co Wexford, Glencormac, Co Wicklow, Doneraile Court, Co Cork, and St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, Co Kildare are between 800 and 1200 years old.   Many place names are called after yew. Mayo (Maigh Eo or plain of the yews); Glanworth (Gleann Nuir or glen of the yews); Terenure (Tir an Luir or place of the yews).   The wood is highly prized for furniture and wood turning, and it was a traditional wood for archery bows