Watch: Leitrim influencer hits out at Coillte after trees fall on part of her ‘dream house’

Leitrim influencer Martha Gilheaney has taken aim at Coillte after trees belonging to them fell and toppled her shed.

The Leitrim woman came to fame last year when she moved from an apartment on O’Connell Street in Dublin to her rural Leitrim, where she bought her “dream house” and began doing it up.

When she bought the property, it also had a large steel hay shed on the outskirts surrounded by large trees that she says belonged to Coillte, the semi-state Forestry Company.

“Yes, it was old and rickety, but it had been standing for years. And my dream of having a place to store firewood, dry clothes, and house donkeys was not so far away,” she said on a Facebook video.

“Then Storm Eowyn hit, and all these trees fell onto my land and around my sheds. These trees belong to Collite. I was not able to access my sheds for several months.”

When the trees were removed, the shed collapsed, which she indicates was a result of the trees.

 “Coillte do not accept any responsibility for this, and they basically say it was an act of God, but I am not so sure.”

“The sheds were there before the trees, and the trees were planted too close to the sheds, so how does that make ‘God’ responsible? Plus ‘God’ would want me to adopt donkeys so I know he’s not involved.”

Leitrim is the most forested county in the country with over 20% of the land covered in trees.

Thousands were left without power as a result of windblown trees in the county with some being out of power for weeks. Coillte has said that the clean up of damaged forestry in Ireland due to storm Eowyn would continue into 2027.

Environmental groups in Leitrim such as Save Leitrim have campaigned for more stringent regulation of Coillte and the forestry industry at large, calling for tree lines to be moved 50 metres back from property and public infrastructure like electricity cables.

“How can Coillte call this an act of God and wash their hands of responsibility when their trees fall and destroy someone's property. Surely they should ensure the trees are planted an adequate distance from a property and also be maintaining and inspecting their crop,” said Save Leitrim in response to Gilheaney's post.

Coillte were contacted for comment, but had not responded at the time of publication.