Holly trees are being uprooted and stolen from the countryside and exported for the lucrative Christmas market on the Continent, it has been claimed.
Crann, the voluntary non-profit organisation dedicated to planting trees and protecting Ireland's woodlands, says Irish holly is under threat because of the demand for it. An editorial in the current edition of the organisation's magazine says tonnes of holly are being cut and removed from hedgerows.
"Our native holly is now actually under threat due to the annual theft of entire trees from our farmland," said the article, written by the editor, Mr Joe Barry. "Many of these holly trees are loaded into containers and shipped to mainland Europe where they are then sold for Christmas decoration.
"There is nothing wrong with exporting a farm product, but the current and growing market is making unsustainable demands on our holly resources," it said.
Mr Barry, who said he wanted to encourage people to do as he had done and grow holly for sale at Christmas, said this would mean that wild trees would not be stripped or stolen.
As an alternative farm enterprise, growing holly, he wrote, would protect the wild native species from the annual assault by those seeking berried holly.
"This would also leave the berries for the birds and remove the annual threat to this lovely tree which is one of our few native evergreens," he concluded.
Holly is not a protected species in Ireland but is in some European countries where it does not grow as easily as here.
The Celtic Druid priests regarded it as a sacred plant, thought to repel evil spirits.
As Christianity slowly replaced the pagan religion, holly maintained its spiritual significance throughout Europe. Some historians believe that the name holly is a corruption of the word "holy." In Germany, where it is called Christdorn, legend says the branches of this tree were woven into Christ's crown of thorns.
Most of the holly removed from Ireland is thought to end up in German, Dutch and French homes.