Скачать или смотреть Ireland’s Bogs Explained | From Ancient Turf Cutting to Modern Ecological Heritage

Ireland’s endless stretches of bog—raised bogs in the Midlands and blanket bogs along the Atlantic fringe—cover nearly one-fifth of the country’s land area and store more carbon per hectare than temperate rainforests. For thousands of years, these waterlogged landscapes quietly accumulated turf, the partially decomposed plant matter that once fueled daily life. Archaeological evidence at Céide Fields and coring studies reveal turf cutting as far back as the Neolithic period, around 6,000 years ago. In pre-modern times, rural households relied on turf banks, cutting hundreds of sods daily with a traditional sleán spade. By the 1940s, hand-won turf supplied over 40% of Ireland’s primary energy, later industrialized by Bord na Móna. That era has ended: commercial peat extraction ceased in 2021, and domestic cutting is now tightly restricted under EU and national climate policy. Today, bogs are being rewetted to restore their carbon sink function, while former cutaways are repurposed for wind farms, wetlands, and amenity spaces. The scent of a turf fire lingers as a cultural memory, symbolizing Ireland’s transition from everyday fuel to ecological heritage.