Cratloe Woods

Cratloe Woods is a forested area around the village of Cratloe in County Clare, Ireland. Much of the original oak forest has been replaced with coniferous softwoods during the past century; however, small pockets of native oak survive. The largest such pocket is the Garranon (or Garranone) Wood, which is visible on the hillside just north of the N18 road from Limerick to Shannon.

The woods at Cratloe Hill are the subject of poems and stories going back to at least the seventeenth century. Notable writers who have mentioned the site include Elizabeth Bowen, who used the woodland at Garranone to symbolise the continuity of the Irish landscape and Samuel Ferguson, whose love poem "The Lapful of Nuts" describes his happy times in Cratloe collecting nuts with his sweetheart. This poem dates to at least the mid-19th century.

Local tradition claims that a highwayman hid his treasure under a tree in the woods, and an oblique reference to this (or to a contemporary villain) is in The Midnight Court by Brian Merriman. Some veracity is given to this tale by the hanging of an alleged criminal in Ennis around this time. The outlaw is described as a cross between Ned Kelly and Robin Hood; the tradition maintains that he buried his takings under "a tree marked with the Ace of Spades". The roof beams of the Palace of Westminster in London and the Royal Palace in Amsterdam are said to have been made from ancient oaks felled when Cratloe Woods were cleared.

Traditionally, it is claimed that wood from the forest was used in St. Mary's Cathedral in Limerick. The church has its original roof, constructed with Irish oak and with a set of carved misericords—one of the few remaining in Ireland dating from before the 16th century. Sources for the history of the site are given in an unpublished doctoral thesis at the University of Dublin, Trinity College. The woods are described as Foruisbh in medieval manuscripts, and the site of the O'Brien hunting grounds. They have been well-known across Ireland since the Middle Ages.

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