From the bog to the silver screen

Turf-cutting is a skill farmers know is dying. But a new film captures the camaraderie at the bog, says Áilín Quinlan

THE IMAGE of a donkey and cart drawing home the turf is an iconic symbol of old Ireland. But like rural creameries, tiny post offices and remote one-teacher schools, the tradition of turf cutting has more or less disappeared.

“We’re a dying race now,” says John ‘Busca’ McMahon from Lisselton, Co Kerry, who has been cutting turf by hand for 50 years. “It’s hard to get a team together now. People don’t want to hear about cutting turf the old-fashioned way. It’s going to go out in the very near future. When our old crew get too old to go out, the young crew will not pick up from us.”