Donal Hickey: The enduring mystique of bogs

Working in the bogs we became familiar early in life with the curlew, the hare and the skylark

Turf cutting in 1947 in Nad.

That inimitable columnist of yesteryear, Con Houlihan, once described turfcutters as the “aristocrats of the moorland” because of their importance as providers of fuel to rural communities.

And now, with bans on fuels such as turf and coal looming under climate change measures, he would probably be writing an ode to bogmen. Always men as rarely did a woman catch a slean.

Watching a repeat showing of that lovely 1998 series on country life, Ceol na Talun on TG4 the other night, the actions of a group (meitheal) of about eight men cutting turf briefly fixed us to the screen. They were
working in the traditional way in the uplands around the Gaeltacht area of Coolea, Co Cork.

As nearly all turf is cut by machine nowadays, it’s a sight that may never be witnessed again: the old-style bogman is an almost extinct species and many of his skills are being lost.

Donal Hickey: 'As nearly all turf is cut by machine nowadays, it’s a sight that may never be witnessed again'

Working in the bogs of Sliabh Luachra, long ago, we became familiar early in life with the curlew, the hare and the skylark, none of which we’ve seen during bog walks for many years since. Conifer trees have taken over.

We even learned about weather forecasting. Once the singing lark rose from its nest in the heather, you watched it fly into the sky. The higher it soared, the better the day was going to be. If it came back down quickly, rain was on the way.

It’s a fair bet that few of the tens of thousands of people in Glasgow for the recent climate change conference ever stood on a turf bank. But a clear message came from the Clyde-side gathering: the burning of fossil fuels has to end, even if coal-dependent countries such as the US and India haven’t signed up to that.

Europe will act in its own way and environmental laws from Brussels apply here.

Up to now, mind you, we have been ignoring much of the law on bogs. Data obtained by the Irish Wildlife Trust under the Freedom of Information Act shows that mechanical turf-cutting continues to be widespread in special areas of conservation (SACs) in Ireland, despite the practice being unlawful since 2011. A total of 282 plots were cut in all SACs in 2021, nearly the same as last year.

Irish governments have been slow to impose bans for fear of political consequences, as we saw from the actions of defiant bogmen near Listowel, Co Kerry. But public opinion is changing and governments will be forced to act.

Bogs have an enduring mystique. And nature will surely return to them, if given a chance, as is being proved in the Bog of Allen, Co Kildare, and Fenor, Co Waterford, to give two examples.