Tree Week, organised by the Tree Council of Ireland since 1985 is a week long programme of events to celebrate trees.
As we love the environment and our local trees, each class at Powerstown Educate Together will have the opportunity to visit the Forest School and discover what special trees we have in our Forest. Among those are the old Oak family affectionately called Grandmother and Grandfather Tree who watch over the site and the many Oak and Sycamore saplings that are growing there.
Each class will identify the tree species in the Forest by examining the bark, twigs, branches and leaves. Many types of trees found in Ireland were considered to be sacred, whether as symbols, or due to medicinal properties. The children will also learn the medicinal role these trees had in ancient Ireland and the mythology surrounding them. For example, the Oak in Ancient Ireland was a ‘gateway to the fairies’ and anyone caught harming an Oak tree would be punished severely.
Druids (ancient wisemen) frequently worshipped and practised their rites in oak groves. The word Druid is thought to mean Men of the Oaks. Trees were so important in Ancient Ireland’s culture that even our ancient Irish alphabet ‘Ogham’ represented the names of trees or shrubs.
TBC – Powerstown Educate Together is meeting up with the Gaelscoil’s Green School and we will be having a planting session where we can celebrate Tree Week together
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