6,000 Trees Distributed Creating New Habitats Across Offaly

Tuesday, 17 February 2026 at 11:05

The Hares Corner project is one of 26 projects currently managed by the Burrenbeo Trust.

Offaly County Council and Geashill Tidy Towns are celebrating a hugely successful Hares’ Corner Offaly native tree collection day, held Geashill on Friday the 13th of February.

Over 6,000 native Irish trees were collected by participating landowners, schools, community groups and householders from across the county.

Pat Foley of Geashill Tidy Towns said - “It’s been really inspiring to meet people from all over Offaly, returning to their farms, schools, gardens and community spaces to establish places for nature and help biodiversity locally.”

The trees ranging from native hedgerow species to mini‑woodland packs and heritage apple varieties will help establish over 110 new Hares’ Corners throughout Offaly, with the intention of boosting local biodiversity, support pollinators, and enrich landscapes in farms, gardens and community spaces.

Offaly County Council’s Biodiversity Officer Ricky Whelan said - “The Hares’ Corner project has been a whirlwind, delivering hundreds of new habitats to every corner of Offaly — a result we could only have hoped for when we embarked on the project last year.”

Offaly County Council thanks to the BurrenBeo Trust Hares’ Corner team and the Irish Seed Savers Association for their help in the project.

They also thanked Geashill Tidy Towns for their organisation and warm hosting of the event, and to Raheen (Geashill) GAA for providing the use of their facilities.

The Hares Corner project is an initiative of the Burren Beo Trust and was delivered in Offaly with support from Offaly County Council through the Local Biodiversity Action Fund from Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.