OPINION (AN COLÚN): Embracing a special, sacred tree in east Clare

ON Saturday I visited the Brian Boru tree for the first time. It was hard to find because there are no signs to it.
This beautiful, famous tree is, reputedly, a thousand year old oak. It's located near Tuamgraney in east Clare; and according to legend it was planted by Brian Boru. The tree's girth is 26 feet.
I must confess that I behaved like those much-maligned and scoffed-at tree huggers because I embraced the tree and tears welled in my eyes.
I also visited St Cronan's Church nearby, which is the oldest church to be in constant use in Ireland. It is very possible that Brian Boru worshipped there and would have entered through the elegantly simple doorway which still exists. I found standing in this doorway and touching its sides was an experience as emotionally powerful as seeing and touching the oak.
The Brian Boru oak is one of the last surviving remnants of the forest of Suidain. Suidain was an ancient oak forest of the Sliabh Aughty Mountains of east Clare and south east Galway. Very little of Suidain still survives. Over the last few weeks I've been trying to seek out its remnants. I talked to an expert on the matter and he told me of a couple of isolated pockets where there were oak trees of 400 to 600 years of age and therefore possible Suidane survivors. I drove across the barren, deserted expanse of the vast Sliabh Aughty moorland in eager anticipation of standing amongst these special trees. As I drove along I reflected that my search had taken on something of the nature of a spiritual quest, as if I was looking for the arboreal equivalent of the Holy Grail. I arrived at the first isolated pocket (about an hour's drive from Birr and in a very lonely location). My mind overflowing with keen anticipation I set off on shank's mare along a dirt track. After 20 minutes walking, as so often happens in this world of ours, I was brought back down to earth with a resounding bang. My way was barred by a large padlocked gate, lined with barb wire, and signs warning me to keep out. Undeterred, I retreated to my car and tried two other possible pathways into the woodland. It was a similar story there. More keep out signs and gates and barbed wire.
Disappointed, I drove to another of the isolated pockets which the expert had told me about. A half-hour later I arrived. Again, the location was very remote. Once again the pathways into the woodland were barred. There was a sign warning me to beware of the guard dog. I returned home to Birr, having failed in my search / quest.
On Saturday I set out for the woods of Raheen near Tuamgraney. Parking beside the woods I asked a few locals if they knew which way it was to the Brian Boru oak. They said they had never heard of it. Armed with an ordnance survey map and a Google Earth map with a red pin showing the location of the tree, I set off. 15 minutes later I emerged from the woodland and farmland opened up on my right. The tree stood on the border between the farmland and the woodland. There was no mistaking it. It was a magnificent specimen and, in terms of visual impact, stood out from all the other trees around it. Raheen is mixed woodland and its trees are very attractive but this oak was, visually speaking, on a different level. It was majestic.
That evening I posted my experience on Facebook. It garnered many likes but someone quibbled about the Brian Boru connection. The High King died in 1014, he said; the tree is reputedly a thousand years old; therefore, it being 1023, Boru would not have been alive. I resisted the temptation to respond. If I had responded I would have said that often when we say “a thousand” it is shorthand for “not exactly a thousand, but about a thousand”.
Whilst Boru's link is legendary only, I think it's important to reflect on the possibility that because he lived in the region he may very well have planted oaks, and this might be one of them.
Whatever the truth, to touch a tree of such beauty and antiquity is a special, sacred experience.
The tree still bears fruit and a large number of its acorns have been planted throughout the country. Major tree surgery by the Tree Council of Ireland was carried out in the eighties to prolong its life.
Finally, I watched today a report in the RTE news archives. The report was made in March 1987. At the beginning of the report we are told, “If a tree like this was in Japan it would be regarded as a national treasure, whereas in Ireland it is considered a local curiosity.” This made me reflect that it's very regrettable that there is no signposting or public noticeboards for this tree. It is a shoddy way to treat what should be regarded as a national treasure.