In the midlands, we have established a special cultural relationship with our bogs. They have been our main source of fuel for home heating for generations and, in more recent times, have provided much-needed employment in our towns and villages. However, we are now at a crossroads as peat-burning power stations and the much-loved briquette are being phased out. For generations, people have cut and harvested peat in the traditional way, but this is now a rare sight. People’s relationship with the bog is changing, and communities are beginning to recognize that intact raised bogs can become a catalyst for economic growth and development.
Community-led initiatives are rekindling awareness of the benefits of treating our raised bogs sensitively. Restoring and maintaining these areas will lead to regeneration and a restoration of rich biodiversity, with social, economic, and educational benefits for the wider community.
Cloncrow Bog is within walking distance of the village of Tyrrellspass. In places, it is in pristine condition, where its unique flora and fauna have flourished and remained unaltered since the end of the last ice age, 10,000 years ago. Intact raised bogs create an anaerobic accumulation of peaty material where carbon from the atmosphere is stored and remains sequestered for as long as the bog retains a high water table. In this wetted environment, sphagnum moss and other peat-building plants thrive. With the expertise of ecologists, hydrologists, engineers, and machine operators from Bord na Móna and the National Parks and Wildlife Service, degraded areas of Cloncrow Bog are being rewetted and restored, transforming the landscape and contributing significantly to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. This groundbreaking work is being conducted through the Care-Peat Interreg Project.
This project is funded by the European Union, and Cloncrow Bog is one of two Irish sites chosen to implement a program of peatland restoration that will guide future projects at home and internationally. Peatland scientists from four other European countries are participating in this exciting project, each exploring possible uses for wetlands in our modern world. Paludiculture (wetland farming) and the possibilities of rewarding local landowners with carbon credits are just some of the potential outcomes from this exploration. Drains on the high bank have been blocked on the state-owned section of Cloncrow, and the water table has risen, facilitating the recolonization of the surface by sphagnum moss and other key raised bog flora. Measurements of carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions from the degraded areas of Cloncrow were recorded throughout last year, and once regeneration has taken place, further measurements will show the benefits of rewetting. Our bog will once again be transformed into a carbon sink, contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions.
ETHOS (everything Tyrrellspass has on show) is a voluntary community group committed to exploring different aspects of our local natural, cultural, and built environment. Our most recent project focuses on the hidden wonders of our local raised bog, Cloncrow. By organizing workshops, field studies, wildlife surveys, community walks, and photographic exhibitions, our aim is to highlight and reconnect with this vanishing “timeless environment.” Recently, we have focused on developing a bog boardwalk and village trail.
The Cloncrow Boardwalk and Village Trail will consist of a 3 km circular trail that will guide visitors through the wonderland of an active raised bog and bog woodland. The trail will continue through the village, highlighting many of its unique historic sites. Belvedere Orphanage bears testimony to the philanthropic nature of Jane, Countess of Belvedere, in the mid-19th century. The Church of St. Sinian is architecturally interesting and serves as a reminder of the treasured history of the Church of Ireland legacy, which is responsible for the development of the heart of the village—the Village Green. The Bacon Sculpture in St. Sinian’s Church and Imogen Stuart’s wonderful sculpture of the three children on the green highlight sculptural legacies from the 19th and 20th centuries. Hidden in the center of the village is the Wesleyan Church, where John Wesley is reputed to have preached. Tyrrellspass Castle, commanding a position on the western fringe of the village, brings us back to late medieval times when much of the midlands was grappling with the legacy of the Anglo-Norman invasion and the later war-torn period of the Elizabethan wars.
With the cooperation of local landowners and community engagement, we secured planning permission to embark on this exciting project. The local business and resident community recognize the value of connecting the historic village of Tyrrellspass with its ancient peatland hinterland. The cultural and historic connections between the bog and village are immense; essentially, the village derives its name from its once geographic, strategic position between two extensive areas of bog: Cloncrow and Toar.
The archaeological evidence from midland bogs shows how our raised bogs were always exploited for communal benefit and for ceremonial, spiritual, and practical purposes. The discovery of the pinned-down wooden Pallasboy Vessel in nearby Toar Bog points to the custom of purposely interring important or sacred objects in this unique environment, where its preservative properties endow the objects with a form of immortality. Toghers, or trackways, and other Bronze and Iron Age artifacts were also discovered in neighboring Toar Bog during recent archaeological surveys. To the south of our village, Croghan Man’s body was pinned down, which archaeologists and historians suggest was a sacrificial offering to an ancient power.
Ancient trackway incursions into and across large tracts of bog show how our ancestors interacted with this unique habitat from Neolithic times. Some of these trackways were complex constructions, primarily designed to provide local communities with a routeway across otherwise inaccessible wetlands. The Corlea trackway in County Longford was built by Iron Age people as part of a ceremonial highway between the Ritual Centre of Ireland at the Hill of Uisneach and the royal site at Rath Croghan. Closer to home, a more ancient trackway was discovered near Coole, County Westmeath, in Mayne Bog. This massive Bronze Age ancient trackway is 1,000 years older than Corlea and was 6 meters in width, making it a major highway in Bronze Age Ireland. Such a significant construction must have involved the whole community in accessing, transporting, and assembling materials for this timeless highway. Other trackways, like those found in Toar Bog, were shorter, less complex platforms of brushwood and timbers that provided access to local Bronze Age, Iron Age, and medieval communities to available resources. Bog iron was a treasured and valuable natural resource used in the manufacture of metal objects. Peat, bog cotton, rushes, heather, and medicinal plants were also harvested by local communities.
Trackways were a practical way of linking the local community with the bog and neighboring settlements. Like our ancestors, we too are planning to construct a boardwalk across Cloncrow, which will help to create that essential link between the local community and its immediate environment.
In the 21st century, communities are beginning to re-establish this ancient connection with their local wetland environments. Boardwalks are helping to expose the hidden wonders of these unique habitats and make them accessible once more. The visual beauty and rich biodiversity on display make these places attractive to local, national, and international visitors. The benefits to the local economy and the community’s wellbeing can be immense. With the introduction of boardwalks and interpretative centers, Clara Bog, Girley Bog, Abbeyleix Bog, and others are becoming attractive destinations for a wide variety of visitors. Botanists, ecologists, hydrologists, students, and the general public all find unique rewards from visiting this vanishing global habitat.
While only 3% of the total landmass of the globe is covered with peatland, over 16% of the island of Ireland is covered by raised, blanket, or fen peat. Twenty-five percent of these wetlands are raised bogs, which are an important feature of our Midland topography. Unlike most European countries, we are fortunate in Ireland that we still retain intact areas of raised bog, as well as vast areas of exploited and drained peatlands that can be successfully restored using innovative restorative techniques. Peatlands are an important habitat type; they ensure the survival of highly specialized flora and fauna, which contribute significantly to biodiversity in our local natural environment. Our peatlands have been capturing and storing greenhouse gases for thousands of years. While they remain saturated, the process of carbon sequestration will continue, but once they dry out, our bogs release trapped carbon back into the atmosphere, significantly contributing to the problem of global warming. Because of their ability to preserve ensnared materials, our raised bogs serve as a history book, recording the legacy of human habitation in the immediate environment.
Through an analysis of pollen grains preserved for posterity deep in the bog profile, we can trace changes in farming practices from the first Mesolithic settlers to our modern, more intensive farm management practices. Pollen analysis studies from Cornaher Lough, just outside Tyrrellspass, chronicle our natural history for thousands of years. We must learn to cherish and protect these endangered habitats for their aesthetic and practical value.
