Hazelwood, County Sligo


Hazelwood is an ancient area of woodland located just over 2 miles outside the town of Sligo in northwest Ireland, in the parish of Calry. It is the setting for W.B.Yeats's The Song of Wandering Aengus. The wood is situated on the shores of Lough Gill, which contains Yeats's Lake Isle of Innisfree, and is popular among tourists and locals for its scenic walks, which are dotted with sculptures. Swans, mallards and gulls congregate at the picnic area, and there is fishing on Lough Gill. The wood is part of the Hazelwood estate, owned by the Wynne family for two hundred years. The walk along forests trails provides views of the lake and Church Island, Cottage Island and Goat Island in a serene setting.
The woods are dominated by oaks, with rowan, willows, bird cherry, yew, and the rare rock whitebeam. The shores of the lake are home to the world's northernmost specimens of the rare Mediterranean strawberry tree. This area supports several rare plant species, including yellow bird's-nest, lady’s mantle, ivy broomrape, black bryony, intermediate wintergreen and bird's-nest orchid.
Hazelwood is part of the estates of Hazelwood House, a Georgian mansion set beside the River Garavogue, which was built in 1722 by the Wynne family. After the Wynne family left in 1923 the house has had several changes of ownership, suffered periods of neglect, and is now boarded up. The parkland is now used for industrial purposes. To the south of the house the abandoned remains of the former Korean factory Saehan Media can be seen.