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 :

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.

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