Ireland has so much natural beauty. That is it, I am moving to Ireland. 
. I want to see these views every day from my window with a cuppa.
2 Likes
Thank you.
Most commercial forestry tends to be softwoods for purely economic reasons. There are moves to more long term restorations of hardwoods too in fairness.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQMHAf-6v_A
This is Carlingford, about 35mins north of me so about an hour from Dublin Airport. The land across the bay is the North and into UK territory although since the troubles ended that border has become less defined. Brexit might change that.
2 Likes
Sitka spruce is a man made monoculture forest planted in a similar way to that of crops or vegetables for financial return… It is relatively quick harvesting (30-40yrs) to serve the sawn timber or biomass energy markets… Unfortunately, they are dark, dense with NO attractions for wildlife…
The real Caledonian Forests can be found if you hop on a ferry from Ireland and head to the Highlands of Scotland… Glen Affric for eg.
1 Like
This is my hometown now, I have lived here for nearly 20 years. I teach in a local second level school.
2 Likes
It’s lough dan,not far from glendalough though.
2 Likes
Yes, I commented last December on a visit that the trees looked amazingly similar to the ones in BC, and it was explained to me that they ARE the ones from BC. Only three conifers native to Ireland (Scots pine, yew, and a juniper), and none of the deciduous species found in the BC forest, so nothing keeps the Sitka from spreading - plus of course it is planted that way.
2 Likes
Probably planted so as to reforest? as much and as quiclky as possible as well as to provide cheap timber without going near natural habitats.Just a guess on my part though
Yes, a sustained effort to plant them - but it is not really reforestation if you simply put in place a monoculture that drives out native flora and fauna. Ireland’s relative lack of forest land is partly due to human usage, but also just natural. After the last ice age, many of the European species were extinct in Ireland, and a fairly unique type of grassland became a dominant form. Lots of open space that is poor farmland, but not naturally forest either.
1 Like
…many peatlands
Ireland is a beautiful island wherever you go with people to match. I’d not advise against anywhere in Ireland except the North. I lwas born and now live in Derry and love the city but never really a big fan of the north. East coast of Ireland more expensive, closer to Dublin and all that that brings. The nicest, wittiest people you could ever meet, plenty of work, international transport links, more industry, traffic jams, high cost of living. West coast has it all but. You could spend a lifetime along the west coast and never get bored and only a few hours drive if you wanted to make it back to Dublin. I spend a lot of time in west Donegal, a bit of a hidden gem. Carrickfinn airport is 5 mins from my gaff and gets you to Dublin twice daily and Glasgow daily. Voted the last two years the most scenic airport in the world to fly into. Leo’s pub, home of Enya and Clannad my local for a pint of stout. L
The world rotates at a different pace here, lifes priorities seem to be in a different order.
https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/travel/donegal-airport-voted-most-scenic-in-the-world-for-second-year-running-1.3834539#:~:text=Donegal%20Airport%20has%20been%20named,a%20private%20jet%20booking%20service.
3 Likes
I actually have ancestry from Co. Tyrone, but with absolutely no cultural content to it - the French part of my family, all that survived the crossing was the name. Having grown up ashamed of Irish ancestry due to the Troubles, I don’t think I am quite ready for the North anyway. Parts of that coast look like a lovely place to visit, but not a great place to winter.
Those photos of Carrickfinn remind me of the Corfu airport, except even more surrounded by the sea.
Not sure if you can view this but if you can the latest episode cover efforts in the Dublin mountians to restore some native/more diverse trees.Starts about 7.30 and goes for about 5 mins.
3 Likes
Thanks for sharing. Though I would have much preferred a bit more of mountains and forests.
When I was last in Ireland there were forests but they seemed to be forests of rhododendrons. I did some walking and my guide said they were a national menace having escaped from gardens. I could see they were making efforts to remove them but they were everywhere. You can definitely have too much of a good thing.
2 Likes
Rhododendron has been classed as an ‘invasive species’ and gardeners have been discouraged from planting them… even to the extent that some garden centres refuse to stock… They grow at the detriment of flora, fauna and general plant life… which as we know, is exactly what is required to encourage wildlife, insects and birds to flourish. Lack of woodland conservation / maintenance has allowed these shrubs to gain traction and strangle other plant life within the area…
This is especially true in woodlands and forests were as nature intended… the strongest survive.
Must be remembered though, everything has a place in nature and like you say… aesthetically speaking… the Rhododendron suits the landscape…
1 Like
Thanks for this link Redseven 
it works for me. I just downloaded the app on my Tablet. Some very interesting programmes on there.
2 Likes
Level 5 lockdowns
Leo Leaks
Falling R numbers
England smashing us at Wembley
Katie Taylor about to fight…
Ups and downs of November in Ireland 
3 Likes
What was likely a poor site for a wind farm (no idea, never looked at that project) on peat land interacts with invasive species that evolved to use thin, rocky soils (i.e. the opposite of peat land), and this is what you get.
1 Like
Is it too hard to learn Irish? I have a strange fascination for this language. It sounds like some mysterious, melodic, magic spells. Not comprehensible but rather soothing.
Just out of curiosity, how do you say fuck off in Irish?
I think that would depend very much on which languages you already know. Some points:
- Irish is a VSO language (verb-subject-object), which is quite a different mental model.
- Irish orthography is really, really different from English/most Western European. Put any 3 consonants together, and the chances are good that you will get a ‘V’ sound.
- It is a very old language by European standards, with real implications for the relationship between the written and the spoken language. The written came well after, notwithstanding some fairly recent efforts to align them. The written has elements that don’t make a great deal of sense without the context of how it sounds.
- Irish has some really powerful features that are not common, like prepositional pronouns. Being able to use one word to express those relations is powerful, but if your mind works in basically 2nd wave Indo-European language terms, not that intuitive.
- There are some really brilliant, almost poetic elements - I love the concepts behind the words for colours. For example, something that is living that is red is not the same thing as something inanimate that is red. Similar properties for numbers, the form of the numbers you use depend on what you are counting.
No idea how to say ‘fuck off’, there might not be a great 1:1 translation. I have only been working on it for about a year now. I don’t think I have any real ear for it yet.