This cache is placed along a very attractive avenue of Holm Oaks which were part of St Annes Estate. DO NOT PARK on the main Howth Road, but on the parallel small Howth Road or, preferably in my view, on nearby Wades Avenue which is a short stroll within the walkway formed by these magnificient trees
Holm Oak, or Quercus Ilex, is an impressive tree as tall as any mighty Oak. Widespread in Mediterranean areas and in South West Eurpoe, it was introduced here in the 1600's. It is one of the largest non-coniferous evergreens that we can grow in Ireland and was planted in many of the larges estates in the country. Those in and around St Annes are some of the finest specimens in the counry. It has incredible coastal resistance and salt tolerance and prefers drier soils.
It forms a large tree with corrugated dark bark, with leaves that are dark glossy green above and downy grey below. Notice the indentations and hollows in the trunk which make it an important wildlife tree.
On the subject of Oak trees, the Sessile Oak (Quercus Petraea) - which is also called the Cornish oak - is native to most of Europe, Anatolia and Iran but is the national tree of Ireland. How so, you might wonder? Well, Charlie Haughey, who lived on the Howth Road a short distance from this cache, was Taoiseach. He sought advice from the Forest Service when he wanted to name a national tree. The advice he got was accurate and professional but not definitive. It was, and is, hard to distinguish pure forms of Sessile Oak much less determine that they were the original Irish Oak. Unperturbed, the Taoiseach made a declaration ... and so Sessile is our native tree. This 'fact' was promulgated in a excellent poster designed by PhotoImages and published by the Forest Service as part of a Primary School pack. Not many people know that!
The cache itself is now a small replacement container, the ortiginal having been muggled. In an early log Bohstom speculates as to how long it will be before the cache catches a muggles eye - the answer is just short of a year and a half!
Surprisingly, the base of the container may be wet most of the year!
When you get to GZ you should be midway between 361 and 444!
The initial container contained a collectible First To Find coin and a small toy.
Congratulations to Arinagour for a prompt find on 9 May 2022