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30th Oct 2023

Have you noticed The Hungry Tree at King’s Inns?

Katy Thornton

Hanger got the best of this particular tree.

Chances are if you’ve found yourself in front of the south gate of Ireland’s oldest schools of law at King’s Inns, established in 1541 during the reign of King Henry VIII, you’d have probably noticed one of Dublin’s more unusual tourist attractions – the Hungry Tree.

Planted between 80 and 120 years ago, the London plane tree was a species widely planted in Dublin in the 19th century.

 

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The tree that was once described as an “unremarkable specimen” has become known for partially consuming the nearby cast iron bench dating from the early 1800s.

As the years have passed, the tree has grown, causing it to swallow the parts of the structure that stands in its way.

Rumours are that if you stand there looking at it for long enough, you can actually hear the hunger pangs from the trunk of the tree, but you’ll just have to pay the tree a visit to discover for yourself whether that’s true or not.

Header image via Flickr 

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