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There are two main kinds of bogs - raised bogs and blanket bogs. In lowland areas bogs can grow in overgrown lakes. Peat (or dead plants) slowly builds up between the waterproof base of the lake and the living bog surface. After thousands of years, this makes a high island or dome of peat which rises above the land around it and is called a raised bog. Raised bogs are found in the midlands or centre of Ireland and in the Bann River Valley.

Blanket bogs are usually found in the mountains and in the west of Ireland, where there is enough rain to form a thin skin of peat across the landscape. Blanket bogs are found in all Irish mountains and in flat areas in the western counties of Donegal, Mayo, Galway and Kerry.

A raised bog takes 10,000 years to grow and fills up old lakes.

Take a journey through sparkling pools and 4,000 years of history on this blanket bog.