The species was once a common sight across much of South West England , Southern Ireland and Brittany before the advent of Dutch elm disease , which devastated tree populations across Europe in the 1960s and 1970s .
The species was once a common sight across much of South West England , Southern Ireland and Brittany before the advent of Dutch elm disease , which devastated tree populations . 
 Cornish Elm is very susceptible to Dutch elm disease , which devastated it in the United Kingdom in the 1960s and 1970s .