King Oak
The King Oak is a tree in the grounds of Charleville Castle, Tullamore in Ireland. Descended from the ancient oak forests that were once commonplace in Ireland, the tree is estimated to be around 400 to 800 years old. The King Oak has been heavily pollarded and is a large tree, with a trunk of girth and some of the lower branches extending as far as . A superstition associated with the tree says that if one of its branches should fall a member of Bury family, long-time owners of the Charleville Estate, will die. The 1963 death of Charles Howard-Bury has been held as confirmation of this belief, following shortly after the tree was struck by lightning which split its main trunk. The tree was nominated as the Irish entry for the 2013 European Tree of the Year contest, in which it finished third. Description The King Oak is located in the grounds of Charleville Castle on the outskirts of Tullamore. It stands just inside the main entrance to the estate. The tree is a pedunculate oak (Quercus robur), also known as a common oak, European oak, or English oak. Its trunk is in girth and the tree possesses