Camolin Wood occupies a low ridge about four kilometres northwest of Camolin and is approximately 10km southwest of Gorey town. Please see directions/map below.

The place derives its name from a religious house founded by St. Molin, second Bishop of Ferns, who died in the seventh century, and of which there are still some remains on the Mountnorris estate. A number of diagnostic stone implements, which date from 5000 BC to 3000 BC, have been found in Camolin townland. These include heavy blades of flint and stone typical of the Mesolithic Period. Burial sites from the Bronze Age dating to at least 1,000 BC indicates a continuous human presence from that period. This implies that the woodlands in the region would have been utilised over the centuries for timber, fuel and food. Many would have been cleared, especially as there is land of tillage quality in the locality.

When mapped by the Ordnance Survey in 1839 the woods at Camolin - known as "Whites Wood" - was composed entirely of deciduous trees, however today the woodland is a mixed stand of coniferous and deciduous trees.

The principal native tree and shrub species are oak, birch, rowan, holly, hazel and willow with a ground cover that includes bramble, bracken, bluebell, primrose, figwort, buckler fern, wood sage and honeysuckle. Unusual vegetation species include cudweed and toad rush.

The wood is home to numerous animals including rabbit, hare, wood mouse, pygmy shrew, badger, bats, fox and red squirrel. Birds include woodpigeon, jay, magpie, jackdaw, rook, great tit, blue tit, coal tit, goldcrest, dunnock, wren, linnet, willow warbler, chiffchaff and blackcap. As the restoration of the site includes the planting of oak, birch, hazel, ash and cherry, fencing against the rabbit and hares is vital in order to safeguard the newly planted trees. As the ground flora increases and the trees grow, butterfly species could in time include the silver-washed fritillary, holly blue and purple hairstreak.


View Camolin in a larger map

 

More Information

For more information on the forest sites, why not check out the Ecological, Archaeological and Bird surveys, which were carried out for each site.

Upgraded Signage

Please see refreshed and upgraded signage installed on all the Millennium sites during 2011.
(This new signage was funded by AIB)