logo
episode-header-image
Mar 2022
34m 3s

A Human History of Forests and Woodlands...

FIN DWYER
About this episode

Its National Tree Week! In this special episode brought to you by Wolfgang Reforest, I investigate the history of Ireland's woodlands and forests. The show begins by looking what an actual native Irish woodland because woodlands and forests looked very different in the past.


Then we embark on a journery through 12,500 years of our history. From the distant past when 80% of the island was covered with forests through to the 1920s when there was scarcely a single tree in the Irish landscape, the story of our woodlands and forests is interwoven with the history of humans on the island.


From the development of agriculture to the Norman Invasion major changes in the way we live our lives has had huge consequences for the trees in the landscape.


Follow the show @

Irishhistory on Insta

irishhistory on Twitter

irishhistorychannel on YouTube


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Today
From White Settlers to Fascists: The IRA’s Troubling Allies
Irish republicans had many natural allies during the War of Independence. Irish communities in the United States offered vital support, while revolutionaries in India and Egypt were also fighting for freedom from the British Empire. But the search for allies also led Irish republ ... Show More
39m 23s
Jun 12
The Battle for Liverpool and New York: The Irish Revolution in the Atlantic World
Liverpool and New York haunt the story of Irish independence in a way few other places do. Though separated by more than 5,000 kilometres of ocean, both ports were part of a wider Atlantic world in which Ireland occupied a central place.By the 1920s Liverpool and New York were am ... Show More
39 m
Jun 10
Ogham: The Mystery of Ireland’s Oldest Writing
Ogham is Ireland’s oldest known writing system, dating back more than 1,500 years. If you have ever seen strange lines carved along the edge of an old stone, you may have been looking at ogham.But what did those marks mean? Who carved them? Were they gravestones, boundary markers ... Show More
36m 31s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2024
The First Irish
<p>Over 10,000 years ago, many believe Ireland was a place where hunter-gatherers roamed. A place where the earliest human communities exchanged prizes of the hunt and crafted primitive tools to aid their survival. But what if their interactions with each other were more sophisti ... Show More
40m 53s
Mar 2023
Shetland: Edge of the Prehistoric World
<p>Over 100 miles further than the northern reaches of Britain, beyond Orkney, are a remote group of islands that make up Shetland. It’s one of the best kept secrets of prehistoric Scotland, containing evidence of the lives that were lived there some 5,000 years ago. With Viking ... Show More
45m 11s
Feb 2023
Normans, Romans and Victorians: History of England's New Forest 
<p>Where can you find an Iron Age fort, Roman kilns, trees built for Nelson's navy&nbsp;and the hunting lodge of William the Conqueror? In the place that Dan calls home: the New Forest in the South of England. In this special episode of the podcast sponsored by BMW and National P ... Show More
21m 15s
Feb 2022
The First Australians
<p>Indigenous Australians have lived on the vast continent of Australia for thousands of years - but how have they survived isolation, extreme conditions, and caring for the land which serves them? This week Tristan is joined by Dave Johnston, Director of Aboriginal Archaeologist ... Show More
1 h
Jul 2023
Jersey: Ice Age Island
<p>The largest of the Channel Islands, when you think of Jersey, it's doubtful that Neanderthals, Woolly Mammoths, and Woolly Rhinoceroses come to mind. But thanks to 20th-century excavations and advancing science in the modern age, we now know that Jersey was one of the largest ... Show More
47m 48s
Mar 2022
Saint Patrick
<p>Man, myth or legend... who was the real Saint Patrick? Did he really banish all the snakes from Ireland? Where does the shamrock tradition come from? And was he even Irish?</p><br><p>In this episode, Tristan is joined by Professor Lisa Bitel of USC Dornsife to find out more ab ... Show More
38m 45s
Mar 2023
Iroquois Confederacy
<p>At its height the Iroquois Confederacy (or Haudenosaunee) - a union of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca nations - controlled lands from Quebec to Ohio.</p><br><p>Its origin story goes back to the legend of the warrior Hiawatha and the Peacemaker. In the end its ... Show More
31m 59s
Dec 2022
The First Britons
<p>67 million people currently inhabit the United Kingdom - but what do we know about the original, first Britons? It's no secret when looking back into pre-history that it was a time of mass migration for animals and people alike, but who were our early inhabitants, and what can ... Show More
49m 20s
Jan 2023
Yellowstone
<p>For thousands of years, nomadic Native American peoples crossed the Yellowstone River basin, in awe of its stunning landscape and&nbsp;geothermal wonders. Very few colonial Americans had set sight on its mountains, geysers and hot springs before geologist Ferdinand Hayden and ... Show More
38m 3s