The forest we love has been completely transformed.
On January 24th, Storm Eowyn barreled through with record-breaking winds of 184 km/h. In Cong Woods, on the Galway-Mayo border, hundreds of majestic old trees came crashing down overnight. Silver Firs, Douglas Firs, Sitka Spruce, Scots Pines, Coastal Redwoods, Giant Sequoias, and Monterey Pines—many over 100 years old—all fell within just a few hours.
Crash, bang, wallop. Can you imagine what it must have sounded like, being in the heart of the forest that night?
While the news cycle in Ireland has understandably focused on the struggle to restore power and water, no one is talking about what has happened in our forests.
In all likelihood, the forest will bounce back. We’ve explained to our children that when a big tree falls, it creates space for new life to emerge. It’s us, the humans, who are at risk in the forest now.
Where once there were wide, easy, buggy-friendly trails and gravel tracks, now the paths are covered in fallen trees and difficult to even recognize. Big, old trees lurch and lean. Public pathways are closed for safety—they’re impassable anyway.
Teams of tree surgeons with chainsaws are still busy clearing roads and restoring access to services. It feels like it will be many many months before we can walk these paths as a family again. Where will we go now? It’s hard to put into words how it all feels.
Two weeks after the storm, many of us here in the west of Ireland are still processing the level of destruction caused. In our journal this week we are sharing some scenes from the forest this week.
