[9] On another occasion, a farmer had told him how he once saw "lumps of green stuff with the consistency of liver"[11] around the tree, indicating "that there had been fairy battles around the bush the night before."

[2] According to a 2019 article on TheJournal.ie, Lenihan, then a 49-year-old secondary school teacher (in 1999),[9] was subsequently "passing the bush one evening on the way home from teaching in Limerick when he saw machinery and road workers beside it".

[2][9] The piece in the New York Times, dated 16 June 1999, noted that the engineer in charge of the bypass had been warned of the possible effects that could transpire if the 15-foot-high bush were to be moved or destroyed and had confirmed that he would "think it over".

[9] The author of the New York Times article got in touch with the Folklore department at University College Dublin who agreed with Lenihan's sentiment that "while the people of modern Ireland scoff publicly at fairy stories, ashamed to admit their beliefs and superstitions to strangers, there is still strong vestigial belief in the fairies".

[12] Lenihan was reportedly "very glad" with the result, but was also disappointed at being unable to stop the council from clearing trees at a nearby ringfort as part of the same bypass plans.

[13] In March 2014, Irish author Manchán Magan wrote a newspaper column[4] on the subject of fairies in which he contacted the National Roads Authority with a request for information regarding the organisation's policy on disturbing these sites, which had come into question during the construction of the N3 motorway near the ancient ceremonial site of the Hill of Tara from 2007 to 2010.

[6] As of 2024, the bush still stands along the bypass, and owing to its previous worldwide coverage, and folkloric significance, has led to it becoming somewhat of a tourist attraction in the region.