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Ireland is getting its first redwood forest since the Ice Age – and you can sponsor a tree

The sun sets in misty California redwood forest.

THE WORLD’S largest redwood forest outside of California is coming to Ireland – and you could be a part of it.

Birr Castle in Co. Offaly have announced ambitious plans to create – through public participation – the largest forest grove of giant redwoods outside of California.

Giants Grove will be set within the historic gardens of Birr Castle, the home of the Earl of Rosse.

As part of the Earl’s 80^th birthday celebrations, he has teamed up with Crann – Trees for Ireland to plant the historic plot.

The initiative has been planned as a tribute to Ireland’s Diaspora who have left the country over the years.

Individuals in Ireland and abroad are encouraged to purchase space in the grove and sponsor it in their name or in the names of deceased loved ones.

A certificate will be provided to sponsors with the GPS coordinates of their place in the redwood forest grove, while names of sponsors will be inscribed in a book of honour at Birr Castle.

The forest grove will be set in the gardens of Birr Castle, Co. Offaly [Picture: iStock]

Money accrued from sponsorship, which starts at €500, will not only cover planting costs but will fund the care and maintenance of the forest – which it is hoped will last at least 1,000 years.

The redwoods of Giants Grove will be the biggest trees in Ireland and the largest collection of its kind outside of California, where redwood forests are famed for their awe-inspiring scale.

Known scientifically as sequoioideae, redwood trees were once native to Ireland prior to the Ice Age of around three million years ago.

Other specimens in Ireland can be found in Powerscourt Estate and Charleville Estate in Co. Wicklow, but Giants Grove will far surpass them in area.

The Earl of Rosse and Crann – Trees for Ireland hope to start the project in the spring of 2017, depending on the amount of sponsors who come forward to make their mark.