Planting Trees in Ireland

Like the celts before us, the team here at My Irish Jeweler have a bit of a soft spot for trees! They have inspired many of our favorite jewelry designs and back in July 2019, we announced an ambitious goal to plant 5000 native Irish trees here in Ireland through our partnership with an initiative called Trees on the Land.

Today we are beyond proud to report that with the support of our fantastic customers, we have well and truly achieved our goal, planting closer to 10,000 trees since we started! Achieving this was down to your fantastic support, including the 1000+ additional trees donated directly by our customers when purchasing their beautiful Irish Jewelry. Thank You!

A virtual road Trip around Ireland

So with summer just around the corner, we thought we might take you on a virtual road trip around our lovely island to some of the places that are now home to all those trees we planted together.

Puck’s Castle, Co. Dublin

Starting out from My Irish Jeweler here in Dublin, it is a short 20 Km drive south to our first stop near the ruins of Puck’s Castle in the Dublin Mountains. In early 2021, 430 alder, birch, oak, hawthorn, and hazel trees were planted here, repairing lost and damaged hedgerows.

Hedgerows create that beautiful and distinctive patchwork of field boundaries around Ireland. But they are not just visually pleasing, they are also an important habitat for native Irish species like badgers, owls, hedgehogs, stoats, blackbirds as well as plants, butterflies and other insects.

Newcastle, Co. Wicklow

Back on the road and just a little further south into the Wicklow mountains, we find the village of Newcastle and the home of Ardeo Sport Horses. The My Irish Jeweler team were lucky to visit Ardeo in Feburary 2020, to help plant 550 sessile oak, rowan, downy birch, hawthorn, hazel, holly, small leaved lime, spindle, guelder rose, and dogwood on the beautiful grounds there.

The trees have been planted to provide improved shelter and shade for the beautiful inhabitants of Ardeo, as well as soil protection and habitat for local flora and fauna, with small areas of woodland and hedgerows. Owners of Ardeo, Melanie and Neil are passionate about both their horses and the countryside. They aim to create the best possible conditions for their horses and to make a permanent contribution of trees to the local landscape.

Ballitore, Co. Kildare

Turning west and heading inland from Ardeo takes us over the Wicklow mountains, past Glendalough and Blessington lake to Ballitore in Co. Kildare. With your support, 1,110 trees were planted here in December 2020.

Ballitore Wildlife Group with the support of Trees on the Land and My Irish Jeweler planted a mixture of alder, birch, oak, scots pine, hawthorn, hazel as well as heritage apple trees, to increase biodiversity in community green spaces through new hedgerows and small stands of native trees. Ballitore was a Quaker village established in the 17th Century, and is just down the road from the Moone Cross. This cross is one of the finest examples of an intricately carved 8th Century Celtic High cross, still standing an impressive 5.4 m tall.

Lough Derg, Co. Tipperary

Leaving Ballitore, we again head west through the verdant midlands, past vibrant towns like Nenagh Co. Tipperary, onward to the shores of Lough Derg.

With our fantastic customer support, close to 2,000 trees, a mix of alder, birch, oak, hawthorn, and hazel were planted here in Co. Tipperary in early 2021. The team that planted this impressive number of native Irish trees are hoping to increase biodiversity of the area and provide shelter for local horses that graze on the land.

Lough Derg, Ireland’s enchanting third largest lake, has become a site of real regeneration in recent times with the return of majestic white tailed sea eagles to the area after being pushed to extinction in Ireland in 1901!

Athenry, Co. Galway

Rounding the most southerly tip of Lough Derg it is time to head north and west through Clare and past the striking burren landscape into Co. Galway and the medieval town of Athenry. The local community here is an inspiration to us all having committed to planting thousands of trees in their local area in recent years. With the founding of the Children’s Tree Campaign, in Galway, in 2019, My Irish Jeweler were delighted to to be a part of this fantastic work in 2020, donating 3,500 trees to their cause, which saw over 10,000 trees planted over the year!

Local children, music schools, Athenry Tidy Towns, and other community organizations got involved, and this large group of volunteers were able to plant thousands of trees. Sessile oak, downy birch, hawthorn, scots pine, alder, rowan and hazel were planted along newly finished roads and on small areas of neglected land around the town. This work is continuing with their ultimate aim to create a diverse habitat for local flora and fauna and to provide a better environment for the people of Athenry.

As the famous Irish ballad goes “low lie the fields of Athenry” - but given a few years, they will be beautifully tree lined and are sure to be distinctly less lonely with such a strong community spirit.

Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland

Our final stop on our tree planting tour takes us north and back east, to communities around Lough Neagh, where close to 1400 trees were planted in just one week in early 2020 with your support!

Again armed with spades and boundless community spirit, local volunteers from Clanmil Community Garden projects worked together to plant sessile oak, downy birch, alder, rowan hawthorn, hazel, crab apple, scots pine and beech.

The aim of the project is to improve the local natural environment and to support a greater diversity of wildlife, especially birds and pollinators in small woodland areas, shelter belts, hedges and individual trees. The group also planted 100 fruit trees of heritage Irish apple, pear, plum and damson in community gardens which are sure to be enjoyed in the years to come.

Last Stop

This might be the last stop on our road trip but My Irish Jeweler is committed to continuing this wonderful partnership with Trees on the Land and planting native Irish trees across the island for future generations to enjoy. So as well as getting your own piece of Ireland with your carefully crafted Irish Jewelry, your support will also help to keep our lovely island green, returning the trees treasured by our ancestors to the land.

We do hope you have enjoyed this little tour and once again thank you for your continued support. We are honoured and delighted to be a part of such a wonderful community worldwide.