For week two of our Social and Culture Module we went to the peace tree. We started off our journey by getting the dart from Killiney to Artane, then we walked to St. Anne’s Park. We had a lovely walk through St Anne’s park and got to take a lot of group photos, it has a small playground, a rose garden and Christmas markets on the weekend. The best part of St Anne’s park is in the northeast corner of the park, it is a 10-metre-tall tree. Unmissable to anyone who passes by, what was once a dying Macrocarpa (more commonly known as Monterey cypress tree) has been transformed into a canvas for dozens of sculptures of wildlife which is known as the Peace Tree and Tree of Life. This landmark came about when it was decided by Dublin City Council that the iconic tree had to be taken down for safety reasons as it was dying.
However, rather than getting rid of it entirely, the council hired award-winning UK sculptor Tommy Craggs to transform the tree, believed to be 200 years old. Here is where Craggs sculpted an eye-catching feature. The tree of life inspired by the wildlife of the park itself and nearby Bull Island. There is something new to discover from every single angle. From an octopus spread across the base to a proud swan perched at the top, every inch of the tree has been transformed into a type of fauna. There are 25 different animals on the tree and we all loved looking at all of them. The tree of life is a beautiful representation of the fauna around the park and in the sea as you can see from the lovely pictures Aoife took.