ISBN 2009-6437
Vexillology Ireland: Brateolaíocht Éireann
VIBE Summer Newsletter 2016
Vol. 1 No. 5
Welcome to Vexillology Ireland’s Summer Newsletter! While the summer brings sunshine and hot weather to many countries, in Ireland we have the usual “wet, cloudy with bright spots”. As the old Irish jokes goes: How do you know when it is summer in Ireland? When the rain gets warmer! The UEFA European Championship might be over but the Summer Olympics are about to begin in Rio, which in no doubt will make all you vexillophiles happy. There is no better feeling than to look into a crowd of people and recognize a random flag that most people would not know. The symbol of summer for many people is the sun. Sun symbols are one of the most common and widespread emblems in the world that take on many forms and variations. In Ireland these symbols are mainly found in the form of different crosses and rising sun icons.
Oak – The National Tree of Ireland Trees have always played a very important role in human society providing us with things like tools, heat, food and even music. Trees have also been a powerful symbol in human art and today can be found on flags and emblems. Although it is not always easy to choose a national tree, many countries in the world have done so. Most people do not know it, but the national tree of Ireland is the Sessile Oak (Quercus petraea). The word sessile means “sitting” and refers to the way the acorn sits directly on the twig without a stalk. In Irish it is called “Dair ghaelach” (Gaelic oak) and is the most frequently found species of Oak in Ireland. It is almost fully resistant to damp and is much prized for its visual and qualities and durability, having been used for barrel, house and ship construction for centuries. The oak was considered a sacred tree in pre-Christian times, for this reason many early Irish Churches were built on sacred oak groves. Surprisingly, the Sessile oak only became the official tree of Ireland in 1990, with the official tree planting taking place in Ardagh, County Longford. Note that this is not the same Ardagh where the “Ardagh Chalice” was found in 1868 which lies in Count Limerick.
Many local Irish names throughout the island derive from trees, especially the oak (dair) which is frequently found in place names. Derry (Doire, meaning ‘oak wood’), Kildare (Cill Dara, meaning ‘church of the oak’) and Adare (Áth Dara, meaning ‘ford of the oak’) are but a few examples. When it comes to flags, the oak is rarely used and is only depicted on various flags of the Derry GAA team and on the flag of the Defence Forces Training Centre which is located in the Curragh, Co. Kildare. As an example, last year we designed a flag for the village of Adare in Co. Limerick. It depicts an 1