Mother Nature blows hot and cold
The 70-foot rare cypress tree, called cupressus macrocarpa, was planted by the developer of the abbey, Mitchell Henry, in about 1870. Mr Henry, the son of a cotton industrialist in Manchester, had built the castle between 1867 to 1871 as a home for his wife Margaret following their honeymoon visit to Kylemore Lodge.
The Co Galway castle has been a tourist attraction for decades and staff at the abbey were heartbroken at the loss of the tree, especially as some of the species can grow twice as much in height and some found in California are believed to be 2,000 years old.
