By Tom Gallagher

It was about 30 years ago in early October that I got a call from Willie Gaynor to say that he had learned that there was a rare white beam discovered in Co. Wexford. This was nothing new to me as far as Willie was concerned. He had a phenomenal memory for detail and the unusual. However this was a different phone call in that Willie asked me to drive to New Ross where we would locate the famous tree. We set off on a Wednesday evening after work racing against the darkness. As dusk closed in we called to the gentleman’s house just a field or two from the River Nore. He took us across a few fields, and there, on the bank of the river grew the tree, hanging over a tumbled stone wall. Its branches were laden with bunches of orange-brown berries about the size of cherries. Willie was like a child with a new toy as he gathered a supply of the fruit which his son Joe would propagate.

It was dark as we got into the car to return home with our prize. Willie explained that Wexford and an area near Belfast were the only places where this rare native tree grew in this island. Its botanical name is Sorbus Devoniensis and is known as French Hales in English. We now know that there are about 70 of these trees in the whole country as well as the ones Joe propagated. That story gives a glimpse of the man whose encyclopedic knowledge was expansive be it about nature, art or history. He shunned any kind of publicity. We wanted to make a video of him, his life and insights but he politely but firmly refused.

It was just a few years earlier that Willie had bumped into Tom Grace at Cabragh one day. They lamented the fact that the settling ponds, last vestiges of the sugar factory, were being filled in. These had been of huge value to thousands of water birds which were now homeless. Only a half Km away were 14 acres which the sugar company owned and were being eyed for use as a landfill site. The two men decided to do something. There and then began the story of Cabragh Wetlands.

After a number of meetings with the officers of the sugar company the 14 acres were bought for almost £100 an acre. The area was heavily flooded then. As someone said, ‘Ye bought it by the gallon’. Surveys, reports, botanical counts and bird lists were compiled by experts in each field.

Willie was engrossed as each survey was being done and knew the whereabouts of every plant, tree and insect. Two rare caddisflies were discovered at Cabragh. Unusual trees like the almond- leafed willow tree and purging buckthorn were listed. Many rare and unusual birds were recorded and more are added each year to the list including the marsh harrier and spotted crake. Willie especially took interest in what was rare and scarce. An rud is annamh is iontach. He never gave a fact unless it was verified and correct. He had the mind of an artist and a remarkable memory.

Cabragh Wetlands is like that. It draws in people with a wide range of abilities and talents be they intellectuals like Willie Gaynor, business people, like Tom Grace, computer buffs, naturalists, gun club members, musicians, ecologists, academics, caterers, farmers, educationalists, folklorists, gardeners, – the list goes on. ‘It all works because it all works together.’

• Photo: Willie Gaynor was a founder member of Cabragh Wetlands Trust.
• Painting: This beautiful painting by Joe Gaynor, Willie’s son, shows three rarities that visit Cabragh Wetlands occasionally – Marsh Harrier, Lesser whitefronted goose and the bittern.