Ash and hazel, colour of an Atlantic rainforest

From above, this aerial mosaic captures a classic native ash-hazel woodland thriving across the limestone landscape of eastern County Galway close to Ireland’s second largest lake, Lough Corrib. The broad, skeletal crowns rising above the canopy belong to mature ash (Fraxinus excelsior), their sweeping boughs stripped bare after early autumn frosts while their dense seed clusters and bare branches cast a warm, reddish tint over the heights, illuminated by the low autumn sun. Beneath these towering giants, an unbroken undergrowth of hazel (Corylus avellana) blazes in shades of ochre and gold as well as Ireland’s default colour - the deep green of holly and ivy.

This multi-tiered canopy forms the backbone of Ireland’s rare calcareous temperate rainforest, fed by mild Atlantic winds and the moisture of nearby Lough Corrib, the wood traps humidity beneath its crown, cultivating a lush world hidden from the aerial lens. At ground level light filters through the open ash branches onto moss-draped limestone pavement, where ferns mosses and sensitive lichens thrive on alkaline rock and base-rich bark.

The image reveals an authentic fragment of western Ireland’s primal woodland—a vibrant, interconnected community where stone, ash, and hazel form an enduring ecological sanctuary.

From the air, you see the colours of late autumn. Walking beneath the ash and hazel, you see how much of the wood stays green after the leaves fall.