Historic Mayo trees are making news
A major tree pruning operation has been taking place at The Mall in Castlebar - once the cricket ground of the former Lord Lucan Estate.
Most of the trees at the beautiful amenity were planted over 150 years ago and, unfortunately, one of them had to be felled due to a disease detected during an analysis.
An elected member of Mayo County Council, Councillor Ger Deere, has been coming up with ideas on how best to use the cut timber for the benefit of the community.
He stated: "It is so sad to see such an old tree having to be cut down for safety reasons due to its health and age.
"Over its 150 year life, this tree would have witnessed so many events in Castlebar.
"It watched the goings-on in Castlebar during the Easter Rising, during the War of independence and many other events.
"So many have come and gone, so many pulled ‘conkers’ from the tree, yet the tree outlived them all. A lesson in life: we’re only passing through.
"While it is sad to see this tree go, I commend the work that is being done on the other trees on the Mall to make them secure.
"I am now suggesting to Mayo County Council that they have some of the timber from this tree donated to organisations or individuals that might use it as fuel.
"The council should also give the good timber local woodturners so that they could transform this amazing piece of history into gifts or presentations that could be given to appropriate guests to our town, our twin towns, or to towns where our diaspora are settled.
"This would be a great opportunity to recycle, or re-purpose, the tree and still carry the history and heritage of the town in a meaningful way.
"It might also be an opportunity to make a large sculpture from the tree and place it as a centre-piece on the Mall and keep it in the memory and spirit of the people of Castlebar."
He has asked members of the public to email their ideas to him at gerdeere1@gmail.com.
One person has suggested using the wood to make a bench for the location where the tree was felled.