The hawthorn tree or fairy bush or May tree was our focus this week as we were celebrating Bealtaine, one of Ireland’s fire festivals celebrating the start of the summer.

The bluebells are also known as a fairy flower and some stories tell of the bluebells ringing to tell the fairies when to gather for Bealtaine.

We sang our song ‘In and out the dusky bluebells’.

We noticed many May flowers.

When we got to our bases, we got very busy exploring and building.

Wishing Trees (aka May Bushes, Fairy Trees, or Rag Trees) are hawthorn trees where people tie ribbons to ask blessings from the local saints/deities/wee folk. The hawthorn flowers in May.  Local people still tie ribbons or strips of colourful cloth to the wishing tree as a symbol of their prayers or wishes.

We made wish rags using nature’s colours. We tried out different plants. The children find that some plants work better than others to get a good print and share the information with the others.

We hung our wishes on the May bush.