The Beech of Blarney

The national heritage tree survey rates this beech among Blarney's exceptional specimens, alongside the more famous yew and cedar, and puts it at somewhere between 150 and 200 years old, which would make it a near contemporary of the Rock Close's Witch's Kitchen folly rather than of the medieval castle itself. A beech left alone for that long builds a dome-shaped crown wide enough to shade the ground beneath it into permanent twilight, which is why almost nothing grows under a mature beech but the beech's own fallen leaves, slow to rot and thick enough to smother competitors. Its bark stays smooth its whole life, grey and almost elephantine, unlike the cracked and plated bark most trees this old develop, and generations of visitors carving initials into it are why old beeches so often carry scars that never grow over. What sets this one apart from the estate's other specimens has not been written down anywhere the register can point to. It stands somewhere in the wider Blarney gardens, and the heritage register is the only source describing it. If you know more, tell us.