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IN IRISH MYTHOLOGY, THE YEW
WAS ONE OF FIVE SACRED TREES
BROUGHT INTO IRELAND FROM THE
OTHERWORLD WHEN THE LAND
WAS DIVIDED INTO ITS FIVE
PROVINCES. … BEING SO LONGLIVED, IT WAS SEEN AS HAVING
POWERFUL MAGICAL PROPERTIES, A
TREE ASSOCIATED WITH LONGEVITY
AND REBIRTH.
THIS YEW WOOD COMES FROM THE
FAMOUS COOLE PARK NEAR GORT
CO GALWAY. HOME OF THE LATE
LADY GREGORY CO FOUNDER OF
THE ABBEY THEATRE. WILLIAM
BUTTLER YEATS ALSO FREQUENTED
THE PARK AND WROTE A FAMOUS
POEM CALLED THE WILD SWANS OF
COOLE.
“THE TREES ARE IN THEIR AUTUMN
BEAUTY, THE WOODLAND PATHS
ARE DRY, UNDER THE OCTOBER
TWILIGHT THE WATER MIRRORS A
STILL SKY; UPON THE BRIMMING
WATER AMONG THE STONES ARE
NINE-AND-FIFTY SWANS.”
