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The Champion Sycamore at Gormanston College, Co Meath. Luke McManus via Crainn na hÉireann

6 wonderful walks in the woods to take this week

Ireland’s woodland treasures are the star of a new TV show.

IF YOU GO down to the woods today – you may just extend your lifespan.

A new TV series on Ireland’s incredibly rich woodland heritage hits TG4 tonight, making the case for us to open our eyes to the treasure on our doorstep.

We are all aware of the contribution tree-filled landscapes make to our air quality but a more subtle benefit is the effect they can have on our mental health. A study of Japanese office workers proved a link between decreasing stress levels and spending time in a wooded area.

The study’s authors at Chiba National University recorded a 13% drop in the stress hormone cortisol following a walk in the woods; the activity also reduced blood pressure rates and heart rates and increased powers of concentration.

Manchán Magan traversed the country’s forest trails for Crainn na hÉireann, a ten-part series on Irish trees which begins tonight on TG4 at 8pm.

Here he recommends just some of the wonderful wooded walks for you to try out this month:

1. Glenveagh National Park, Donegal

glenveagh2 Glenveagh National Park Luke McManus Luke McManus

Gleann Bheatha means Glen of Birch, and there are numerous examples of this beautiful, slender native tree to be found in this lonely valley in Donegal. The castle gardens are crammed with exotic tree species, though the natives are well represented too.

A splendid trembling aspen in the gardens, and a now rare stand of wych elms at the top of the valley by the waterfall are among the high points.

2. Killarney National Park, Kerry

The lakes, mountains and waterfalls are justly famous, but the trees of Killarney are spectacular too. Start at Muckross Abbey to see what might be Ireland’s most beautiful tree – the Muckross Yew, standing proud in the centre of an ancient stone cloister. Then visit eerie Reenadinna Yew wood, one of the few yew woodlands in Europe. These ancient trees have colonised an outcrop of limestone boulders on the edge of the lake.

shutterstock_360091424 The wilds of Killarney National Park host a diversity of woodland. Shutterstock / youngoggo Shutterstock / youngoggo / youngoggo

Nearby is Brickeen Bridge where the two lakes meet, with some fine examples of arbutus, the rare native tree that is relatively common in Killarney, and alongside them are pygmy willows and Scots Pines growing in rock crevices by the water’s edge.

3. Charleville Castle estate, Offaly

The King Oak is undoubtedly the star attraction of this estate that lies on the edge of Tullamore town.  The trees stand sentinel right inside the imposing entrance, a massive giant of a tree with its low branches spreading out majestically, propped to prevent them falling.

Deeper in, the forest is one of the biggest pendunculate oakwoods in Ireland, with yew trees laid out beside the castle in the shape of a Union Jack. Combine your trip here with a visit to Birr Castle, a marvellous tree collection, including the imposing Carroll Oak, the fallen trunk of Europe’s champion grey poplar and the tallest hedges in Ireland.

4. Kilmacurragh, Wicklow

KilmacurraghOakAvenue The marvellous oak-lined avenue at Kilmacurragh Luke McManus Luke McManus

The Garden County is the spiritual home of Irish trees. Powerscourt, Avondale and Glendalough are all famous for their forests, but Kilmacurragh, the rural branch of the National Botanic Gardens just off the N11 south of Wicklow town is a hidden gem.

Head gardener Seamus O’Brien is an expert on exotic species: there is a towering redwood and the rhododendrons are magnificent in early summer. But Kilmacurragh boasts marvellous natives too. A yew walk leads down from the lake and then at the bottom of the hill turn right to find a superb avenue of oaks leading up to the skyline.

5. Ullauns, on the Kerry Way

Take the Kerry Way footpath towards Kenmare, up by Torc Waterfall and then through Ullauns, a pristine forest that is one of the few undisturbed sessile oak woods in Ireland. Ultimate peace.

6. Tullynally House and gardens, Westmeath

shutterstock_65553709 The canopy of trees reflected in the lake at Tullynally Shutterstock / PHB.cz (Richard Semik) Shutterstock / PHB.cz (Richard Semik) / PHB.cz (Richard Semik)

The home of tree-writer Thomas Pakenham near Castlepollard is an under-visited estate with some superb examples of Western Red Cedar, an imposing avenue of beech and oak and the Squire’s Walking Stick – an unusually tall, straight oak tree featured in Pakenham’s bestselling book Meetings With Remarkable Trees.

There are also numerous Oriental collections, grown from seeds gathered in China and Tibet by Thomas Pakenham himself.

One-third of children in Ireland have never climbed a tree>

Can big data save our planet’s forests?>

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    Mute nimchimpsky
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    Feb 11th 2016, 3:13 PM

    How many weed plants can I grow in there?

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    Mute the asian nightmare
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    Feb 11th 2016, 3:18 PM

    74

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    Mute nimchimpsky
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    Feb 11th 2016, 3:27 PM

    What if I take out the bunk beds?

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    Mute the asian nightmare
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    Feb 11th 2016, 3:29 PM

    86

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    Mute nimchimpsky
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    Feb 11th 2016, 3:37 PM

    How much would I get for 91 bunk beds?

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    Mute nimchimpsky
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    Feb 11th 2016, 3:46 PM

    And what are you charging in auctioneer fees?

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    Mute Not_Rod_Ten©
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    Feb 11th 2016, 3:20 PM

    The tv licence man would still get you.

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    Mute The Girl
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    Feb 11th 2016, 3:38 PM

    Or Irish Water

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    Mute brian magee
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    Feb 11th 2016, 4:03 PM

    In ballymena?

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    Mute Paddy Ryan
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    Feb 11th 2016, 5:10 PM

    It would be perfect for Willie Frazer to hide out from the “Fenian looking people” !!!!

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    Mute Karl Foley
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    Feb 11th 2016, 3:49 PM

    No need for it. Just take your free Iodine tablet. Sorted.

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    Mute Mark Malone
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    Feb 11th 2016, 3:23 PM

    The wife would never go for it……..pity.

    “Just popping out for milk love, I’ll just lock you in to be safe.”

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    Mute Neil Cullen
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    Feb 11th 2016, 4:07 PM

    The state of that house in Donnybrook – a poky little terraced 3-bed with no boundary wall, 1 parking spot, no front garden, and a tiny back garden. Fur coat & no knickers. Imagine paying €750,000 for that, lol.

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    Mute Tom
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    Feb 11th 2016, 4:44 PM

    Dublin prices are bunkers.

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    Mute Anton Friendo
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    Feb 11th 2016, 3:20 PM

    Its nucular

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    Mute Ted Murray
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    Feb 11th 2016, 3:50 PM

    They obviously didn’t give a toss about Northern Ireland, only giving thirty days. I bet those folks in London would have still been laughing their heads off in their proper nuclear bunker, twenty years after the NI contingent had all died of radiation sickness.

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    Mute David Maguire
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    Feb 11th 2016, 3:20 PM

    Would make a nice office space for business start ups

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    Mute Dot Com
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    Feb 11th 2016, 3:22 PM

    Not much news on the political front today is Hugh off.

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    Mute Kieran OKeeffe
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    Feb 11th 2016, 3:51 PM

    Probably coaching Enda..

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    Mute Paul Culligan
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    Feb 11th 2016, 3:51 PM

    Lock the entire Irish Political System in it and fcuk the key away.

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    Feb 11th 2016, 4:33 PM

    The shinners next hq.

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    Feb 11th 2016, 6:00 PM

    I’d pay £575,000 to not have to live in Donnybrook

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    Feb 11th 2016, 3:13 PM

    Jeasus its horrible!

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    Mute the asian nightmare
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    Feb 11th 2016, 3:17 PM

    True but the bunker isn’t exactly easy on the eye either.

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    Mute Joey Gee
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    Feb 11th 2016, 5:38 PM

    You could but, would you? Learning Ballymena is impossible, seriously!

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    Feb 11th 2016, 6:01 PM

    Sin Fein should appropriate it through the clean Slab.

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    Feb 11th 2016, 6:46 PM

    Juan Carr, by name and nature.

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    Mute Micheal S. O' Ceilleachair
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    Feb 11th 2016, 7:41 PM

    …..er! has it got the famous iodine tablets?

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