Rachael Byrne

This paper centres on the legacy imparted upon the land by tenants engaged in state sponsored tree planting in the
modern period. The study seeks to ascertain the relationship of the tenant agrarian landholder to the planting of trees,
through a state-incentiviz ed tree planting scheme in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. For the tenant population
the state initially espoused a coercive approach to induce tree planting from 1698. A more benevolent tree planting
scheme evolved and was implemented in 1765. This created a registry of trees for tenants, which is the principal source
reviewed here. This register contains a wealth of material on the tenant population, tree species, number of trees planted,
location and the landlord involved. Drawing on work by the woodland historian Eileen McCracken and geographers
Smyth and Tomlinson, the research seeks to extend the focus of their research to elucidate the cultural significance of
this documentary evidence.
This paper examines how landscape reconstruction from documentary evidence can enrich our understanding of the
rural Irish Landscape but also the intersection of state and local actors who shaped it.
Keywords
Irish