The Woodland History Survey Results

For the purposes of this survey, four descriptive woodland history categories have been created as follows:

Woodland History Category 1st Edition Maps 3rd Edition Maps Coillte 2001 Inventory
Old woodland (OW) Forest Forest Forest
Interrupted old woodland (IOW) Forest Open (no forest) Forest
Parkland (PK) Very open, scattered trees Very open, scattered trees Very open, scattered trees
Long-established plantation (LEP) Open (no forest) Forest Forest

Results show that 27,780 hectares (or 6.4%) of Coillte's estate are old woodland sites, i.e. they appear to have been wooded since the 1830s A.D. Many of these old woodland sites may have been originally planted before the 1830s and others may date further back in time - a few may even perhaps link right back to the natural forests of prehistory. It can be difficult to tell for certain what the real origins of a woodland site are, but the woodland history survey completed by Coillte in 2001 is an invaluable first step towards identifying important woodlands.

The table below presents national-level data for the Woodland History Survey. The results show that 88% of Coillte's estate is classified as 20th century plantation, while the remaining 12% falls into one of the four woodland history categories described above.

Woodland Type %
20th Century Plantations 88
Old Woodland 6
Interrupted Old Woodland 1
Parkland 1
Long Established Plantation 4

The results of the survey are summarised below for each :

WOODLAND HISTORY CATEGORIES BY FMU

FMU Name Total Forest Area (ha) Old Woodland Other*
Wicklow/Dublin Uplands 18993 577 860
Eastern Wicklow 6947 2181 457
Border Hills 9748 616 570
Blackstairs 4468 247 70
Wexford Lowlands 4453 1064 399
Waterford Lowlands 8241 1423 648
Waterford Uplands 13043 1944 1715
Mid/East Cork 9776 924 836
North East Cork 20697 653 679
Mullaghareirk 11729 122 17
West Cork 11944 616 156
South and West Kerry 17094 731 357
Galtees 13720 1901 2670
Nore/Suir Valley 9622 1666 1304
Mid Tipp/ Rossmore Plateau 11294 1108 1114
Slieve Felims/ Devils Bit 14887 688 405
Slieve Aughty's 33135 1499 718
Burren/West Clare 7951 162 355
Feale Catchment 9814 303 193
North Mayo 25704 15 1
East Mayo 8454 248 281
South West Mayo 6493 371 667
Connemara 16917 122 762
East Galway 10719 1191 1258
Roscommon 4757 384 228
East Donegal 10251 327 146
West Donegal 22207 271 390
Pettigo Plateau 9951 30 100
Sligo 12832 934 1286
Lough Allen 15973 106 173
Boyle 6742 512 583
Northern Border 8182 1136 625
Eastern Border 3006 624 759
Lakelands 8144 600 1048
Midlands 11777 694 504
Slieve Blooms 17959 1795 1168
TOTAL 437624 27785 23529

*Other = sum of area of Interrupted Old Woodland + parkland + long-established plantation categories.

OLD WOODLAND BY COUNTY:

County Total Forest Area (ha) Old Woodland Other*
Carlow 3607 264 70
Cavan 7253 891 383
Clare 22984 792 716
Cork 46204 2500 2266
Donegal 34159 626 635
Dublin 1739 57 318
Galway 36840 2152 2271
Kerry 18844 752 356
Kildare 3755 388 278
Kilkenny 9939 1574 1173
Laois 15025 1730 1262
Leitrim 12250 406 386
Limerick 11554 937 585
Longford 3131 231 453
Louth 1457 257 527
Mayo 33165 652 1077
Meath 1564 244 346
Monaghan 2998 528 367
Offaly 8940 638 355
Roscommon 8652 831 750
Sligo 11985 726 1182
Tipperary 27939 3125 3916
Waterford 17559 3025 1522
Westmeath 4741 345 558
Wexford 8547 1360 687
Wicklow 27952 3039 1095
Total 382326 27780 23524