Lord Mayor of Cork visits festive farm to select Christmas trees for local charities

A Christmas tree farm in Cork city is looking forward to a busy few weeks, with the owner explaining why his trees and visiting his farm are so popular with Cork people.

Lord Mayor of Cork, councillor Dan Boyle, attended the Christmas tree tarm to choose trees to give to charity groups across Cork.

Pat Lehane, the owner of the Christmas tree farm, explained that Mr Boyle was the fifth Lord Mayor who had made the annual visit to the farm.

“We’re the only Christmas tree farm in the city, and we’re located at the top of Donnybrook looking down over the city and way out into Cork county.

“The trees are as local as you can get, and people like to come up and have a walk around, see where the trees are growing and the views, particularly when the sun is shining — it’s a completely different experience to buying your tree at a garden centre.”

He has already seen several customers, saying that usually the Late Late Toy Show would be the start of the rush, but as the Toy Show is a week later this year, many have opted to buy their trees before it.

Families

“Every year we’d have kids coming in with their parents, and even full families with grandparents coming along too to take a walk and pick out their tree.

“It’s a nice shopping experience, we’re a genuine commercial farm so we’re never idle during the year — we have cattle, we grow foliage, so the smells and the sounds and the puddles are all very authentic!”

He explained: “The advantage of buying a tree from a farm is that it’s much fresher than a tree packed inside a pallet and shipped down from Wicklow, they come tightly packed in lorries and if you want your tree to last longer you have to treat it better.

“Every tree that’s cut down is replanted again, and the trees themselves soak the carbon out of the atmosphere, it’s much better than buying a piece of plastic that’s sent over from China and there’s no fuel needed for transporting them across Ireland as they’re grown right on our doorstep,” he said.

Taylor Swift

Mr Lehane added that he was aware that singer Taylor Swift had grown up on a Christmas Tree Farm, saying: “I tell my daughters ‘you’ve something in common with Taylor Swift’.” 

The Lord Mayor told The Echo: “I was happy to make the visit. Trees are an important part in how we celebrate Christmas. It also important support local businesses at this time.”