Tree-rings, sometimes called ring plantations or shelter belts arranged in a circle, were a common feature of designed landscapes in eighteenth and nineteenth century Ireland, typically laid out by landowners to ornament their estates or to frame a view, a house, or a rise in the ground. What makes them worth noticing now is precisely that the houses and walls and formal gardens they once complemented have often vanished, leaving the ring of trees standing alone, a circular outline in a field that speaks to an older intention.