Famous Game of Thrones Landmark Felled by Storm Gertrude

It’s funny to think of places in magical fantasy kingdoms having real life counterparts. But for a show like Game of Thrones, which is filmed on location all over Europe, it’s a fact of life. There are areas in Croatia, Spain, and Ireland that proudly bill themselves to tourists as different locations in Westeros. And one of the most famous is the copse of trees that has stood in as the place where the King’s Road meets King’s Landing.

This location was already well-known locally as the Dark Hedges, located in County Antrim, Northern Ireland (where several Westeros locations are filmed.) But last night, the extreme weather event known as Storm Gertrude took it down. The storm, which had ripped through Ireland and Scotland in the last few days with 90 mph winds, caused massive power losses in the Scottish Highlands, flood warnings across the UK, and disrupted the country’s public transport systems. It was the second major storm in the last few months seen on the islands.

According to the Belfast Telegraph, three of the 200-year-old beach trees that made up the famous tunnel of branches were ripped up by the roots during the storm.

Already one of the most photographed natural landmarks on the island of Ireland, the tourist attraction recently achieved global prominence after it appeared on the hit HBO series… The beech trees were planted in the 18th century by a local family, the Stuarts, with the intent of creating a grand entrance to their nearby Georgian mansion, Gracehill House.

The road is likely to be closed to traffic for the remainder of Friday as Northern Ireland’s Roads Service works to remove three fallen trees.

The area was one of the major Game of Thrones tourists stops on the official Ireland tour. The trees will be missed.