Ever the keen amateur botanist, The Dealer was delighted to hear that a second population of the rare Kerry Mousetail Fern (Stengrammitis myosuroides) has recently been discovered in Killarney National Park.

The fern was first recorded in the park in July 2019, as a new species to Europe. It was previously found only in the Caribbean, in the tropical cloud forests of Jamaica, Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

The latest colony of six Mousetail Ferns was located on a vertical rockface above a stream.

How the fern got to Ireland and how long it has been resident in the Kingdom – without the prior knowledge or permission of the Healy-Rae clan – is one of modern science’s glorious mysteries.

This latest discovery is further proof of The Dealer’s old dictum that all life on earth, apart from Sam Maguire, yearns to settle in Kerry.