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What Remains of the Bog of Allen?

Those three words - Bog of Allen ­ have a somewhat mystical, ancient character. Almost all Irish school children have learnt to chant them off, along with other famous parts of our heritage such as the Book of Kells and the Hill of Tara. Others might remember collecting Sphagnum moss in the Bog of Allen, which was then used in bandages during the first world war.

The Bog of Allen is an important part of the natural heritage of Ireland. It began to form 12,000 years ago after the last ice-age. The early Stone Age people of Offaly and Kildare saw the Bog of Allen, not as we know it today, but as a much wetter place. They saw an area of expansive, open lakes, which were gradually being infilled with peat to form fens. They saw the Bog of Allen beginning to grow.

Thousands of years passed before the Bog of Allen deserved its name. It had passed through different stages, including lake and fen, and eventually, after about 4,000 years, it became a bog. A raised bog. To be more precise, the Bog of Allen was a complex of many raised bogs, separated from each other by islands of mineral soil. It was the most extensive such complex in Ireland, spreading over 30 miles from Clane in County Kildare to Tullamore in County Offaly.

But what is left of the great Bog of Allen today? We know that most of the Bog of Allen has been cut away for fuel and agricultural reclamation. We know of certain areas where relatively undamaged raised bog exists. But are there other areas we don't know of? Are there havens of peat moss (Sphagnum spp.), bog cotton (Eriophorum spp.) and bog asphodel (Narthecium ossifragum) just waiting to be discovered and recorded?

The Irish Peatland Conservation Council are undertaking a survey to determine just that. The survey will cover the area within a 13km radius of the IPCC headquarters at the Bog of Allen Nature Centre on the island of Lullymore (See Editor's Note). The aim of the survey is to locate and survey the habitats present in this area, especially the peatland habitats, and to document the heritage of the Bog of Allen.

The information collected in the Bog of Allen Survey will be published later this year. It will be used to promote the conservation and heritage of this famous area through education, publicity and awareness. We cannot do this unless we know what exists there.

How can you help?
The Irish Peatland Conservation Council is a non-governmental environmental charity, entirely supported by voluntary contributions. The Heritage Council and the Leinster Leader are kindly supporting the survey, but the costs involved in carrying out the survey, compiling maps and publishing the report are quite large and more funds are needed. If you can help to fund this important survey, or know of anyone who might be able to do so, please contact Caroline Hurley, the Conservation Officer with IPCC.

The survey itself will begin in May 2004, with field-work continuing through the summer until August. If you have botanical or zoological knowledge and would like to volunteer to help the IPCC with the field survey, please contact Caroline Hurley. Tel: 045-860133. E-mail: bogs@ipcc.ie.

ENDS