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The King Oak is a tree in the grounds of Charleville Castle, Tullamore in Ireland. Descended from the ancient oak forests that were once commonplace in Ireland, the tree is estimated to be around 400 to 800 years old. The King Oak has been heavily pollarding and is a large tree, with a trunk of girth and some of the lower branches extending as far as . A superstition associated with the tree says that if one of its branches should fall a member of Bury family, long-time owners of the Charleville Estate, will die. The 1963 death of Charles Howard-Bury has been held as confirmation of this belief, following shortly after the tree was struck by lightning which split its main trunk. The tree was nominated as the Irish entry for the 2013 European Tree of the Year contest, in which it finished third.
The King Oak has been described as the star attraction of the Charleville estate. A superstition attached to the tree says that, if one of its branches were to fall, it will foretell the death of a member of the Bury family, the long-time owners of the Charleville estate. In 1963 the tree was struck by lightning, splitting the main trunk from top to bottom and causing the loss of at least one branch. The tree survived but Colonel Charles Howard-Bury, the explorer and last member of the Bury family line died a few weeks afterwards.
The King Oak was proposed by the Just Forests conservation charity as the Irish entry for the 2013 European Tree of the Year contest. The tree made it to the six-strong shortlist and in the final poll received almost six thousand votes, putting it in third place.
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