History and Nature Walk 21/6/18
Today we went on a local History
outing. Our first stop was in Drumgallagh itself where we went to view a Portal
Dolmen. It is probably over 5,000 years old and weighs approximately 10 tons.
It is made up of four rocks; three huge rocks holding one large flat slab
called a capstone.The capstone slopes downwards and is mainly supported by the
backstone. Dolmens were megalithic tombs .It is thought that the massive stones
were moved by using wooden levers and props and perhaps ramps overlaid with
timber rails were used to lift on the capstone. Portal dolmens are usually
single chamber tombs and were ancient burial sites.
Then we went to Rosnafinne which
is a little island just off Claggan. We walked along the solar walk which is a
series of stones ,each with a planet on it and description of size and
information about each planet.This was very interesting.
After a short walk down the road we saw the
Lime Kiln. It was used for burning lime stone to get lime to make mortar. The
limestones were burned at high temperatures and the lime was then extracted.The
kiln was circular in shape and made of stone and had a little tunnel underneath
that reminded us of a chimney.
Visit to Rock House Forest
After that, we went on a nature walk through
the forest at the Rock House, which derives it’s name from being built on rock.
Sibylle from Rock House accompanied us and forest manager and expert on trees
Seán Heneghan was our guide.. He told us lots about trees . The older trees of the
forest were planted in the 1940s so some are very mature and old. We saw some
huge Scots Pine and Sitka Spruce. We picked some cones from the ground and Seán
explained how to retrieve the seed by heating the cones. Hopefully in Autumn we
will plant our own Sitka Spruce from seed. We looked at Sessile Oak and Turkey
Oak and Seán explained that the leaves are different with The Turkey Oak leaf
being more spiky. The trees of the forest often self generate and lots of
examples of saplings could be seen. Seán explained that native Irish trees are
identified by samples taken from the ground dating back to years ago. One of
the trees in the grounds is a Downey Birch which is a cannibal tree; for
example it eats other trees. It has very cleverly wound itself around a pine
tree and eventually the pine tree will die. This was a most unusual sight. We
saw a Eucalyptus tree which is found in China and is a source of food for Pandas.
The Eucalyptus tree needs a very dry warm climate and is really not suited to
Ireland, therefore it does not thrive here. At Rockhouse forest they experiment
with growing different kinds of trees in the forest like Red Woods that are
found in California , USA. We saw a cultivated red rhododendron growing in the
forest also and this does not spread like the common rhododendron which is not
native to Ireland.
The forest sustains a lot of
wildlife such as foxes, hares, rabbits, badgers, mice ,pine marten and lots of
birds. We also saw some bees which are extremely important for pollination and
biodiversity.
The forest tour was fascinating
and peaceful and very educational.
After our walk we were treated to some
refreshing drinks and biscuits in the Boat House which overlooks the sea. It
was a great day and we really enjoyed ourselves! We are really grateful to
Sibylle and Seán for their kindness to us all.
It is a memory we will treasure.
Written
by Caoimhe and Molly
