Abbeyleix Bog Walk Project

I recently had the pleasure of visiting the Bog walk in Abbeyleix, a community based project which is attempting to restore a peatland to its natural state.

It's one of the many bogs of Ireland of which within Europe, Ireland in particular has a large number.

These particular type of bogs were initially a completely natural creation which provided a unique habitat for fungi, flora and fauna much of which can only be found in these type of wetland environments.

Untouched wetlands such as these are described as Raised bogs. They differ in the manner in which they were created from the more common and ubiquitous mountainside Blanket bogs.

For generations the Raised bogs were utilized for the extraction of Peat which was cut into turves/turf, manufactured into Peat Briquettes and used to make peat based products such as garden Moss Peat.

 They also provided peat for burning in Ireland's Electricity Generating Stations.

Immediately after Independence and for quite some time afterwards Ireland was an impoverished nation and the bogs provided much needed income and valuable resources for the state.

 

As time has moved on we have come to realise that these activities have decimated a valuable and niche ecosystem which as a nation, we are now beginning to rehabilitate and encourage rewilding and rewetting.

Rewetting involves putting moisture and water back into the bogs. In many instances as the bogs were harvested for Peat huge drains were dug into them and these drains dried them out enabling industrial scale Peat extraction.

It also turned the bogs into little other than vast tracts of "desert", a place where wildlife and nature was left barren with nowhere to live and nothing to live off. Bog rehabilitation aims to revert these "deserts" back to their original habitat and encourage nature to rewild them with endemic native Plants and Wildlife.

Bogs are naturally anaerobic. That means there is little oxygen to be found in them and as such they act as a natural source of preservation.

Several ancient "Bog Bodies" have been discovered in very well preserved conditions throughout European bogs with a particularly fine example discovered at Cashel bog in County Laois.

It is known as Cashel man and is amazingly well preserved.

I have included below some photographs of a large lump of "Bog Butter" which is on display at Damer House in Roscrea.

It's believed these large chunks of butter were wrapped in cloth and deposited in the bogs for storage. 

Many Bronze age and Neolithic burial sites are also lying buried deep beneath Ireland's bogs and are occasionally revealed by weathering, erosion or industrial activity.

This gives an indication as to the depth to which some of our bogs have grown. If complete Stone circles and Wedge tombs are buried unseen beneath them we can clearly recognise they are of considerable depth.

The Bog at Abbeyleix is a wonderful example of rewilding complete with walkways and some signed and tracked Loop walks.

I was very pleasantly surprised at what a wonderful job has been done here. It is absolutely beautiful but also very thoughtfully designed to encourage both Wildlife and visitors and walkers alike.

I hadn't expected to find such a well designed and panoramic environment there. 

I just presumed it was another bog with little remediation and nothing much to see. How wrong I was.

Alongside information boards describing the bog were signs for directions on the looped walks.

The abundance of plants and animals amply demonstrated the success it has been and it was an absolute pleasure to walk through this remediated bog. Having now just "discovered" it I have no doubt we will be back again and again.

Access to the bog can be had from several points but the Car Park at the Abbeyleix Manor Hotel is your best bet and acts as a watering hole for the many walkers and locals alike.

Keep the wheels turning.

Google coordinates here:

52°54'21.8"N 7°21'10.3"W

Below are some pictures from several bogs in Counties Laois, Offaly and Westmeath showing them in various states and including some of the types of machinery used locally for peat extraction. 

There is also a small Narrow gauge Rail Locomotive photographed that would have pulled wagons loaded with peat into the Electricity generation stations which would burn it to heat water for turning their turbines.

Some abandoned and dilapidated wagons are pictured near Shannonbridge on the Offaly/Galway County border. 

Cashel Man - National Museum of Ireland

Abbeyleix Bog Project - Laois Tourism

Visit Abbeyleix Bog

UN Environment program - Abbeyleix Bog Project