Over the years many dignitaries and visitors have planted trees at Áras an Uachtaráin. Pope John Paul II planted an oak on the lawn in front of the southern portico in 1979. Presidents John F Kennedy and Eamon de Valera both planted Wellingtonias on the grounds when the U.S. President visited on 27 June 1963. More recently Queen Elizabeth II and President Barack Obama both planted English oak trees at the Peace Bell during their visits to Ireland in May 2011 and in June 2016 a tree was planted by a group of children, to commemorate the 40 children who died in the 1916 Rising.
Douglas Hyde, as the first President of Ireland, planted a Cornish elm on the north lawn of Áras an Uachtaráin in March 1939. Since then each of Ireland’s nine Presidents has planted an official tree in the grounds of the residence in Phoenix Park.
President and Sabina Higgins continued the tradition, when they planted a blue cedar (cedrus atlantica glauca) on the main avenue and Sabina Higgins planted a Lebanese cedar (cedrus libani) on the opposite side of the avenue leading up to the official residence.
