Peatlands of the Shannon Region

Thingstodo information

Peatlands of the Shannon Region

‘Peat’ is the international term – in Ireland we call it ‘turf’ and we call the peatlands ‘the bog’. Whatever the name may be, they are a wonderful entity which cover one sixth of the Irish countryside. The peatlands spread like a blanket over the greater part of the mountains and hills of the west and they form immense areas of almost level ground in the midlands, especially in the valley of the River Shannon. Turf means different things to different people. For thousands of years farmers who lived within walking distance of the bog dug the sodden turf every summer, dried it in little stacks and carried it home for fuel. Thousands of people still do this, while hundreds of thousands in towns and suburbs buy ‘briquettes’, bales of compressed and polished blocks of peat produced in factories in the midlands. The briquettes burn to make a cosy fire – with smoke which is renowned as free from pollutants. Conservationists point out that, over the greater part of Europe, peat has been dug away to such an extent that the bog has almost disappeared from many countries. Ireland and Finland retain a greater proportion of it than any other lands. This makes it a precious feature of our heritage and great areas of peatland are now carefully preserved for posterity. The bog has a unique assemblage of beautiful wild flowers and is a haven for many species of birds and other creatures. At the other extreme, the peat is a valuable industrial fuel. Excavated by enormous machines, it is carried on miles and miles of special railway track and fed to power stations, brought to briquette factories or baled as a garden soil improver. Over the past fifty years this has provided employment for thousands of people in regions where there was very little other work. Please click on the link below for further information.