Juanita Browne: We need to celebrate the recovery of the elusive Irish ‘tree cat’

The Pine Marten, Cat Crainn. Picture: Ruth Hanniffy Photography

The third All-Ireland Pine Marten Symposium is due to take place on April 1 and 2 in Abbeyleix, Co. Laois. According to the organiser Ruth Hanniffy, of the Vincent Wildlife Trust: “This symposium will include talks, workshops, a fieldtrip and plenty of opportunity for discussion on the many aspects of Pine Martens in Ireland. We’ll cover the relationship between pine martens and squirrels, managing interactions with householders, den boxes, surveying, rehabilitation, citizen science and even ecotourism.” 

Many Irish people know little about the pine marten, a beautiful native mammal, with its thick coat of chocolate brown fur, long fluffy tail, and a cream-coloured ‘bib’ or patch running from its chin to its chest. It is very agile and a great climber, spending a lot of its time in trees, which led to its Irish name, ‘cat crainn’ or ‘tree cat’. It is not, however, a cat, but a mustelid, related to the stoat, otter and badger.