Root and Branch is the RTÉ lyric fm podcast all about our native trees presented by Brían Mac Gloinn and Anja Murray.
This third episode of Root and Branch references the resistance of Holly (Cuileann in Irish), one of Ireland's few native evergreen trees.
Press play up top and subscribe to the podcast here!
There is a great deal of tradition and folklore associated with Holly, so Brían and Anja speak with Ríonach Uí Ógáin, former director of the National Folklore Collection at UCD.
Conservation botanist at the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, Noeleen Smyth explains why holly goes to such lengths to produce its shiny, spiky leaves. Brían echoes the folklore in a song he writes with Anna Mieke Bishop and also performs a traditional song that carries holly's pagan symbolism, accompanied by Kayne Coy on concertina.
From our friends at the Tree Council of Ireland
Holly/ Cuileann/ Ilex aquifolium
The evergreen holly is a native species which forms the shrub layer in some of our oldest woods. You may look for it in woodland, or in the narrow gullies of the Sperrins or Donegal uplands, where holly and rowan can survive the harsh upland conditions. It is another visually attractive small tree very suitable for gardens as a specimen tree or as a hedge, slow growing and very dense.
Holly trees are either male or female – only the female can bear berries, so it is always worth planting several holly trees together. Both sexes bear small creamy flowers. Although they drop their spiny leaves all the year round, especially in the heat of summer, they are green all year, and along with ivy were traditionally used for midwinter or Christmas decorations, as a sign of green life to come.
In some areas it is considered unlucky to cut down holly, and it may be left as standards along a hedgerow. The hard pale wood is valued for wood carving.
Root and Branch
Presenters: Brían Mac Gloinn and Anja Murray
Produced by: Anja Murray
Original score and songs by Brían Mac Gloinn
Sound Design & Editing: Brían Mac Gloinn
Producer for RTÉ lyric fm: Eoin O Kelly
Production Co-ordinator: Peter Curtin
Root and Branch will be broadcast on the Lyric Feature at 6pm on RTÉ lyric fm.
