For all you dendrophiles, Sunday 21st of March 2021 sees the start of National Tree Week here in Ireland.

So here is an image of one of the most iconic of Ireland's native trees. the ash.

Ash is the most common tree found in Irish hedgerows, it grows tall to around 40 metres and its bark becomes fissured with age. It has a pale wood that is most famously used to make hurleys (sticks) for the Irish game of hurling. If you have good quality wooden handled gardening equipment, the handles might also be made from ash timber.

Ash trees can live for up to 400 years but in recent times with the arrival of an asian fungal infection, the trees have been suffering from a disease called ash dieback.