Turf Bank
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Turf has been used as a fuel in Ireland for at least 1300 years. However, by 1700, most of Ireland’s forests had been cut down, so from then on, turf became the most important fuel. Turf is dried, partially rotted plant material that is laid down in boggy, waterlogged conditions. Turf banks build up over hundreds of years and can be many metres thick.
To cut a turf bank, it is first prepared by paring off the top sod of living vegetation. Usually one person cuts the turf using a spade with an ‘L’ shaped cutting edge and two others load it onto wheelbarrows which they empty onto a dry area of the bog. After seven to ten days, depending on weather, the wet turf develops a dry skin. Each wheelbarrow load is then spread over the ground and turned over to dry on all sides.
As the drying process continues the turf are “footed”. This means they are stood on their end making small “stooks” of ten to twelve turf. These are gradually gathered into larger and larger piles, as they get drier and drier.
The turf are finally “won” when they are dry enough to be taken from the bog by baskets carried either on a person’s back, by a donkey, by a simple slipe or on a small cart pulled by a horse. The winning process sees the peat dried from 90% water to 25% water.
Peat bogs were an important source of timber for roofs. Old wood preserved in the peat was very hard. Butter was also preserved in bogs in wooden cups called methers for use in the winter. Wet bog land was very important in Celtic mythology, as shown by the many preserved sacrificed victims that have been found in bogs throughout Western Europe.
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Wooden wheelbarrow for carrying turf. From Ederney, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.
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Wooden mether containing bog butter. From Legatonegan, Castlederg, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
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Brooch carved from bog oak, with name ‘Agnes’ surrounded by shamrocks on front. Metal pin at back. From County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
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