Long ago in Rostrevor there was an uncanny happening. Regularly, on stormy nights when local seafarers might be at risk on Carlingford Lough or the open Irish sea, a bell was heard ringing gently and sweetly. No source could be found, though the sound came from the old graveyard. Then came the ‘night of the […]
Vanished Trees
Throughout the research for this book, there were endless tales of trees that had gone. Lost from towns and villages, roadside and field, anything from an individual tree to a whole wood.
The De Lorean Fairy Tree
One of the many vanished fairy thorns, but this was better known than most and has earned an international notoriety. The thorn was known to generations of mill workers in Dunmurry, once a centre for the linen industry. It was said that mill girls on their way to an early shift had actually seen the […]
The "Ball of Fire"
Central to the arboretum in Tollymore Forest Park is all that remains of a once mighty tree. It was a Wellingtonia, at 100 feet the tallest tree in the place. It is now a massive tall spiky stump. About 2 o’clock in the afternoon on 12th October 1988 a freak electrical storm swept over the […]
The ‘Pin Tree’, Ardboe
One of the famous wishing trees was the ‘pin tree’ at Ardboe old church on the West shore of Lough Neagh. The most recent tree blew down in the fierce wind of Christmas Eve 1997. It had been dead for some time – probably no tree could survive for long the metal pressed or hammered […]
The Post Office Tree
The Post Office’ tree no longer exists, its site in a field beside Prehen House outside Derry City, marked only by nettles and brambles. The tree was a sycamore, and a group of other sycamores in the same field helps to keep the memory alive. The tale associated with the tree is one of the […]
Legar Hill, Armagh
The old well and rag tree at this hilltop site on the edge of Armagh have been overtaken by events, and by houses. The well has been vandalised and filled with rubbish: although an elder tree thrives only the stump remains of the old hawthorn. Once this was a fine spreading tree, its branches bedecked […]
Lisnaskea moat
The site known as ‘The Moat’ on a hill beside Lisnaskea was the inauguration site of the local Maguire chieftains. The central feature is a stone capped mound rising steeply from a level circular area, bordered by a low bank which drops to surrounding fields at a lower level. The bank is marked by natural […]