The Alder Tree
PLANTING THE ALDER - By Seamus Heaney
For the alder-wood, flame-red when torn
Branch from branch.
But mostly for the swinging locks
Of yellow catkins.
Plant it, plant it,
Streel-head in the rain.
The Alder Tree (Alnus glutinosa) is a native Irish tree, which has quite a history in Irish Folklore and History. It even has played a role in the naming of a number of Irish towns and villages. For example, Ballyfarnon (Béal Átha Fearnáin) in Country Roscommon translates to Mouth of the Ford of the Alder, and County Wexford, the town of Ferns comes from the Irish Word; Fearna (Alder Trees).
Despite having the privilege of naming numerous towns in Ireland, in Irish folklore, Alder was notoriously unlucky, to the point that Alder trees were usually avoided when journeying from one place to another. This is due to the fact that Alder was a very strong wood, which was used to make shields in war, meaning it was largely associated with war. As well as this, when it’s cut, the pale wood turns a deep orange, giving the impression of bleeding, making it synonymous with death in ancient Ireland.
Photo by Kim Lake, Cloudforest One
Meanwhile, in Celtic Mythology, the Alder tree was symbolic of a balance between female and male principles since it possesses both female and male catkins (flowers) on the same branch.
There are also many ancient stories of the Alder tree from outside of Ireland. In Scotland, there is an ancient story of a groom to be that supposedly had died and had been buried. However, he later returns to tell his bride that he had been taken by the fairies. After being rescued from them, his tomb was opened, where they found it was empty except for a log of alder wood.
Fast forward, a couple of hundreds of years, and Alder is now one of the most common native woodland trees found growing throughout Ireland. In 2020, Alder accounted for 17,910 hectares, which represents approximately 2.7% of the total forest area of Ireland.
How do you identify an Alder? Alder Trees are usually conical in shape, with a dark and fissured bark. You can spot them from small brown cones, which are the female catkins, that stay on the tree all year round. They are the food plant for the caterpillars of several moths & the roots make the perfect nest sites for otters. The catkins also provide an early source of nectar and pollen for bees. Because of their ability to thrive in damp, cool areas, often found in damp boggy areas, marshes, wet woodlands, and along river banks. Mature Alder trees of the species can reach a height of around 28m and live to approximately 60 years.
As we stated above, in ancient times, Alder wood was used to build shields, due to its strength. It was also used to make bowls, containers, and charcoal, as well as this, it produced a black dye from its catkins and bark. Nowadays, its uses are vast and varied, from being used to make furniture, to being used in paper industries. It is also used alder wood is used to make timber veneers, plywood, and pulp.
As you can see, Alder trees are incredibly resilient, tough, and water-loving. This makes them an incredible tree to have growing natively in Ireland. It is also a tree we will be planting across all of our Cloudforest sites, in the coming months & years.
