Oak Glen 2

You have often read about Oak Glen in Glencree, Co Wicklow

You have often read about Oak Glen in Glencree, Co Wicklow. Well, Crann, in its current issue of the quarterly magazine Releafing Ireland, tells you that a new plantation in Tipperary is being negotiated at present. It will be much larger than the Glencree original - 160 acres. Glencree has 65. It seems that the sponsorship certificates will cost £25. For full details, get in touch with Crann head office in Banagher, Co Offaly. The new site is "in a magnificent setting", we are told, with views across Lough Derg to the shores of east Clare, in an area bordered by a Special Area of Conservation and a Natural Heritage Area. The article says it "is ideal for walking and the layout of the new plantation will further add to its charm."

Moreover, we are told, the estate is of major interest for its prehistoric artefacts, and a great diversity of wildlife. Hen harriers are mentioned. All this is being done in partnership with a local landowner, says the article by Des Gunning, director of Oak Glen. On the same page of the magazine there is a short piece about bird life in the original Oak Glen in Glencree. A survey carried out during the summer showed a total of 41 bird species; 22 kinds of birds nested within the plantation, and another 11 species were using the site regularly. The rest were casual visitors. Birds of heathland and scrub, writes Colin MacLochlainn, were most common, as one might expect in a young plantation. Birds of note included long-eared owl, woodcock and jay. There were five species of warbler which, the writer tells us, migrate between Africa and Ireland every year. This diversity is high in comparison with other oak-woods studied in Ireland, but that is due partly to the fact that much of the site is open heathland and scrub, and that attracts additional species. Red squirrels are found and Sika deer. A wide variety of butterflies.

On the same page Tony Carey, one of the original pioneers, thinks that as Coillte progressively harvests mature conifers, there is a case for replacing them with broad-leaves. More audacious, he thinks the British government might just contribute to the renewal in view of English depredations of the trees in past centuries. Well ...