Twelve Bogs of Christmas 🎄 3. Clara Bog SAC, Co. Offaly Clara Bog is Ireland's largest raised bog at 464 hectares. The bog was once much larger, but cutting and reclamation for agriculture has greatly diminished this peatland. I have a lot to say about this bog - so much so that I plan on... - ThreadSky

jamierohu.bsky.social • 68 days ago

Twelve Bogs of Christmas 🎄

3. Clara Bog SAC, Co. Offaly

Clara Bog is Ireland's largest raised bog at 464 hectares. The bog was once much larger, but cutting and reclamation for agriculture has greatly diminished this peatland.

I have a lot to say about this bog - so much so that I plan on...

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jamierohu.bsky.social•68 days ago

...writing a book focusing on just it some day (I plan on doing a book on Bord na Móna after Twelve Bogs, funding permitting).

The ecology of Clara Bog is notable - it has bog woodland, like All Saints bog, and it has several residual small lakes on its surface. Fen-like habitat exists in these...

jamierohu.bsky.social•68 days ago

...micro spaces due to the natural build-up of nutrients that occur in such 'flushed' environments - the dome of intact bogs would often split, with scarce nutrients accumulating in such fissures. This resulted in unusually biodiverse plant communities developing in the bog. Clara Bog is a great...

jamierohu.bsky.social•68 days ago

...example.

Like so many other bogs Clara has been bisected by human infrastructure. It is unknown when the road went in. See the excellent paper below for more:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00750770801915596

jamierohu.bsky.social•68 days ago

I would like to mention two other important aspects of Clara Bog. One, it was the locus of the Turf Compensation Scheme. I wrote about this in my PhD, which you can download from Research Gate. Details about the scheme can be examined on the NPWS website here: https://www.npws.ie/peatlands-and-turf-cutting/cessation-turf-cutting-compensation-scheme/compensation-scheme-statistics

jamierohu.bsky.social•68 days ago

Two, around Clara is extensive farmland, some of which is currently being studied for carbon emissions. Literally scratch the top layer of grass and below you will see peat:

jamierohu.bsky.social•68 days ago

I am going to follow up with farmers who has rewetted their land and received compensation as part of the FarmPeat project. I will also talk with those who have received compensation for halting turf extraction. Lastly, I am going to examine the ecology closely. An important groundwater...

mayocorncrake77.bsky.social•68 days ago

Any breeding curlew?

jamierohu.bsky.social•68 days ago

This is an anecdote, but apparently a dog off the leash finished off curlews on the bog some time ago. That comes from a reputable source but I have no further details. Will update when I visit it again next year.

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