Introduction

In 2022 a new ‘Friends of Myross Wood’ group formed to help look after this much-loved part of West Cork. The ‘Friends’ objective is to support the creation of a living, community woodland resource for biodiversity, education, recreation and the arts. In August 2021, the project received a huge boost in the form of a grant of €28,000 through the Woodland Development Fund from the Department for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

The ’Friends’ goal is to create a ‘Meitheal’ type project that will enable local people and organisations at all levels, from schools to businesses and community groups to support, fundraise and most importantly get involved in the work of developing the wood. We are also looking for local people who have memories and stories to share about the wood.

If you would like to be involved in any way with the ‘Friends of Myross Wood’ please get in touch with us via the contact form below. Feel free to add some detail about your skills or your interests. The ‘Friends’  hold regular work parties.

The wooded grounds of Myross House are made up of two sections which divide at the top of the open pasture in front of the main house.

To the southeast lies the area that most visitors would know as Myross House Wood itself. A beautiful small woodland that slopes down to Glandore Harbour this is highly protected site for a rare plant and an immediate focus for our energy.

Overall, our goal will be to develop a more natural woodland with increasing value for biodiversity. As we do this, while respecting the history of the site, we will explore the links to human health & wellbeing, while all the time being very aware of the greatest challenge of all – climate change.

In practice as we begin to manage the area we are likely to want to gently shift the site from a mixed broadleaf woodland to a more oak dominated birch and holly woodland (the most natural woodland type for this area). There are lot of challenges along the way to doing this not least removing the damaging non-native cherry laurel for instance. At its core our plans must also ensure a bright future for the rare plant that the site is so important for.

Both pieces of woodland suffered greatly in Storm Ophelia (2017) with large areas of existing woodland flattened. Right now, these areas are rapidly regenerating with younger willow and birch trees fighting their way up through the briars. Our gaols here will be to enable and supplement this natural process to help new oak dominated wooded areas develop.

The second northern woodland arm extends back from the grounds of the House along the road to Leap. On the upper slopes that escaped Ophelia’s damage there are some very nice areas of biodiversity rich oak woodland. Equally though there are challenges of invasive damaging shrubs like the cherry laurel and rhododendron that over time we will want to eradicate and allow a more natural woodland to develop.

As we look forward there’s a lot to do to make a lovely wood even better for biodiversity and for people. By the close of 2022 we will have agreed an outline plan for the future of the woodland. We will keep this as a ‘live’ Restoration Plan adapting it to ensure we reflect what we are learning about the site and the best routes to the future.

Sign up below, click here to donate, follow news and events here, learn about our restoration plan, and discover the flora and fauna of Myross Wood.