Donal Hickey: Cork's Atlantic Pond due to reopen in November

The elevated tree walkway, woodland paths, and Barrington’s Folly section of the 32-hectare Marina Park are all open now.

New pedestrian walkway, part of the new woodland walk, at Marina Park, Cork city. The Atlantic Pond section is due to re-open shortly.  Pictures: Larry Cummins

Poets, not least Patrick Kavanagh, have long been inspired by the serene beauty of autumn when trees change colour, with gold, brown and red creating an enchanting mosaic in the countryside.

Little wonder that Kavanagh chose an autumn day as the setting for his love poem, Raglan Road— also one of our most popular and widely-sung ballads.

Many people are now walking in the woodlands, enjoying the awesome trees as they shed their leaves. The other day, we wandered awhile in the sylvan countryside of Duhallow, in north Cork, amid trees including oak, holly, hazel and birch.

The River Lee and Marina Promenade, Cork city. The Atlantic Pond section beside SuperValu Pairc Ui Chaoimh is due to re-open shortly

Tall, stately trees along the Cork to Macroom road looked equally stunning in the October sunlight. Also keep a lookout for rowan, or mountain ash, whose berries change from yellow to bright red and provide food for birds in early winter.

Going back to druidic times, trees have been venerated in Ireland, with rowan well up there in our traditions. Seen as a sacred tree of protection, rowan sprigs were sometimes placed prominently inside people’s homes.

Walkers at The Marina beside the River Lee at Marina Park, Cork city

The purpose was to ward off evil spirits, bad luck, storm, witches and those dodgy, mysterious beings from the ‘otherworld’. You’ll also find rowan in graveyards, in the belief that it protects the dead.

The Marina avenue in Cork city, a treasured urban walk, has been enhanced in recent years. Cork City Council has just announced the opening of a second phase development, comprising an elevated tree walkway, woodland paths and the renovated Barrington’s Folly.

Barrington's Folly, part of the new woodland walk at Marina Park, Cork city

Next month, the Atlantic Pond is due to be reopened to the public and the Leeside Marina Park project will be a key element of the regenerated Cork docklands area of around 300 acres.

Few places can match Killarney for woodlands. Here, a whole wooded landscape has survived for centuries and still contains what is believed to be the country’s largest areas of native, age-old forest.

In the book, Killarney National Park, botanist Daniel Kelly said these woods are remarkable for their variety, explaining: “Nearly all the different types of woodland to be found in Ireland are represented within these few square kilometres."

Some of the last vestiges of ancient oak and yew woods, in Ireland, are to be found in the Muckross, Derrycunnihy, and Tomies areas of Killarney.

Pedestrian walkway to the new woodland walk and Barrington's Folly at Marina Park, Cork city

Leaves on the trees, meanwhile, can be a metaphor for life itself: we see the cycle of new birth in the springtime, which blooms in summer, and fades in autumn before eventually dying in winter.

William Cullen Bryant, an American poet, hit the spot beautifully: “Autumn, the year’s last, loveliest smile."

Get out there before winter sets in.

Barrington's Folly