Since humans arrived on the island of Ireland, Nature played a vital part in their everyday lives. Trees were considered sacred to the ancient Celts and were the source of our first script (Ogham); the medicinal properties of plants were well known and animals such as salmon, hare and swan are associated in legends and folk stories with the supernatural. While much of Ireland’s forests were destroyed by the 18th century & many of their indigenous mammal populations such as the boar and wolves hunted to extinction, nevertheless our rivers, mountains, lakes, seas and hedgerows are still populated with a myriad of fascinating native flora and fauna.