YOU WILL be able to see the wood for the trees in Castleconnell, thanks to a new tree trail.
Fr Brendan Kyne launched the Tidy Towns initiative on Sunday by untying a blue ribbon around an ole Sycamore tree.
The brainchild of local man John Hardiman has come to fruition after six months of hard work.
“Castleconnell is an area with a lot of natural beauty. In the 1800s and 1900s it would have been quite an affluent place and there would have been a lot of trees planted by the landed gentry and aristocracy.
“As part of the Tidy Towns we thought it would be a nice idea to celebrate some of these trees,†said Mr Hardiman.
John identified 24 unique trees in a walk around the village, riverbank and in some of the newer and established housing estates.
The oldest, at between 300 and 400 years old, is a yew tree in the church grounds in Stradbally.
The group produced a brochure with a guided map and put tri-lingual ID tags - English, Irish and Latin - at each tree. The free brochure is available from local shops, ACM centre, credit union and Castle Oaks.
The trees are numbered one to 24. “There is a European larch that is not that common. It is a native Irish tree but it the only conifer that loses its needles.
“We also have a London plane that you see in parks and cities but is not common in our area,†said Mr Hardiman. Others to feature are native trees – oak, birch, hawthorn, beech etc.
Mr Hardiman hopes the tree trail attracts more visitors to the picturesque village, which offers some of the best walks in the Mid-West. “It is nice to enjoy nature and this gives someone a way to do it. They can come out to Castleconnell and have a nice walk. Come and enjoy our lovely scenery,†said John.
And in these recessionary times, best of all is that it’s completely free!
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