Cutaway bog describes a site where peat has been removed systematically by industrial means. Any peat remaining can no longer be economically removed. Up to 85,000ha of cutaway bog occurs in the Irish midlands. Cutover bog describes any site where there is still an economic reserve of peat remaining, usually 1.5m or more. Peat may have been removed by hand or by a variety of machines or by a combination of both to form the cutover bog. Up to 220,000ha of cutover bog occurs in the Irish midlands.

Types of Cutover and Cutaway Bog

Method of Peat Extraction	Slean Hand Cut Vertical Removal	Sausage Peat Machine Vertical Removal	Hopper Machine Vertical Removal	Sod Peat Machine Vertical Removal	Milled Peat Machine Horizontal Removal
Bog Type	Cutover Bog	Cutover Bog	Cutover Bog	Cutover Bog	Cutover Bog
Peat Production	Possible	Possible	Possible	Possible	Ceased
History of Use	Hand	Mechanical	Mechanical	Mechanical	Mechanical
Type of Soil Remaining	Thick layers of acid and/or alkaline peat	Thick layers of acid and/or alkaline peat	Thick layers of acid and/or alkaline peat	Thick layers of acid and/or alkaline peat	Thin or thick layers of fen peat, shell marl, silty clay and glacial till
Appearance	Uneven, raised banks, bog holes and ditches. Banks with slean cut marks. Stacks of turf arranged to dry on the top of the bank and on other dry areas.	Flat with deep cut from the rotating flat blades of the machine. Long sausages of peat laid out on flat areas to dry.	Deep bank on the edge of the bog. Flat areas for drying extruded sods on adjacent land.	Vertical trench and drains 250m apart. Cut sods dry on the flat, previously cut surface.	Flat milled fields with drains every 15m. Shallow powdery peat, underlying soil visible in places.
	Slean Hand Cut	Sausage Peat Cut	Hopper Machine Cut	Sod Peat Cut	Milled Peat Extraction

Registered Charity Number CHY6829

All photographs courtesy of Peter Foss