Edenderry Peat Bog, by Topshot Photography Ireland, Noel Allan.

Описание: This video was shot in Edenderry, Co. Offaly. The road leads from Rathangan, Co. Kildare to Edenderry, most of the road between these two towns are separated by peat bogs on either side for most of the way. There are miles and miles of it.

Ireland contains more bog, relatively speaking, than any country in Europe except Finland. Across Europe, as well as in Ireland, bogs have been exploited in recent centuries as a source of fuel. With many of the bogs in the rest of Europe already gone, Ireland's now have an increased importance to the scientific community, as well as the tourist industry.

Starting in the 1700s, the raised bogs of Ireland were exploited as a source of cheap fuel. Most of this was cut by hand, and laid in the sun to dry before being burned. At the time of the famine, peat (called 'turf' when cut) was often the only source of fuel available. In 1934, the Irish Free State (the name of the Republic of Ireland after independence in 1921) set up the Turf Development Board, which bought land under compulsory-purchase orders and cut turf. Half of Ireland's raised bogs were destroyed (at a rate of 800,000 tons per year) between 1814 and 1946. After World War 2, the government set up Bord na Móna to cut peat by mechanical means and this simply accelerated the process. In 1969, there were just 100,000 hectares of raised-bog left in Ireland, of which Bord na Móna owned 45,000 hectares. Most of this will be exhausted by the middle of the coming century.

In recent years, there has been increased awareness of the importance of raised bogs to science. In the Republic of Ireland, there are plans to set aside 10,000 hectares of raised bog for conservation purposes.