Juanita Browne: Carnivorous plants, reptiles, newts — and so much more in our bogs

Peatland conservation is an emotive issue in this country, but perhaps we need a do-over since they cover just 3% of the Earth’s surface, but store twice as much carbon as all of the world’s living forests

Clockwise, from top left: A five-day-old curlew chick. Picture: Joe Shannon; Irish bog peat layers; the common lizard, Ireland’s only native reptile; and round-leaved sundew, Drosera rotundifolia — a small carnivorous, or insectivorous, swamp plant

I went to the bog just a few times as a child, with my uncle and cousins. I think I was about eight years old, and all that mattered to me was that I got to hang out with my favourite cousin, who didn’t seem as excited as I was when we all squeezed into the car, and the trailer was hitched on. 

All I knew was that a big picnic had been packed, and we were all going off for the day, and the sun was shining. Of course, us younger kids were no help at all — we just ran around the bog lanes and played games, while my uncles and the older kids worked hard footing the turf.