On the crest of a small hill on Battery Road, Ardboe, Co Tyrone close to the cross-roads known as Duffs Corner, is The Crab Tree. This low growing, multi-stemmed tree is held together and supported by binder twine tied to an old metal stake. It is a well known local landmark on a small island of grass between the road and a parallel farm track. The hill has always been known as Crab Tree Hill and, although there does not appear to be any particular importance attached to the site, a local resident said that “no one would ever do anything to the tree”.
There is another lone crab tree in a field at Ballyskeagh in the Lagan Valley between Belfast and Lisburn. It has been left with cultivated farmland all around. There are various Crab Tree Roads but few still have the crab apple trees after which they were named.