Getting a full view of what Ireland is like, Kristen and I
decided to not only go to the large cities of Dublin, but we also visited the
small farmlands on the west coast. In order for us to obtain the Irish farmland
experience, we would not only have to go out into the country, but also stay
out on farm as oppose to a hostel or hotel. Luckily, Kristen had a friend, Bernard
Brennan, from Johnson and Wales that was an International Student from Ireland and
whose family owned a farm. Through
consistent email during the past few months, we were all able to agree on a
date to go visit the farm.
Meeting at the Galway Cathedral, Kristen and I hopped in
Bernard and Kieran’s (Bernard’s Twin) little Nissan and drove up towards Sligo.
Scenery, I would imagine, would be much more impressive during the spring than
in the late fall. The land was a constant view of hills that never led up to
any mountains and never went down to any plains. As for the foliage, there was
green grass everywhere but very few trees, and the trees that were there were
not very large. Population was
slim to none, with a decent size house maybe every mile or so except for the
occasional village.
Pulling up to the driveway we met the three dogs of the
house who ran up to us eagerly but then stopped to sniff with hesitation of the
new visitors. As we made our way inside, we could tell we were about to stay
the night in a house filled with boys. The kitchen was stocked with food, the
mudroom still smelled of manure from the fields and the bathroom had a toilet
where I would hover in order to use it.
The family was our home for the weekend. Out of a family of
seven boys, we met the father, Bernard and Kieran (the twins and the eldest of
the sons at home this weekend), Dermot, and Shannon. After getting a homemade
Irish breakfast as well as a tour of the farm, we all retired back to the house
for some tea and warmth. As the boys started to take off heavy sweatshirts and
wellies from the outdoor work, Kristen and I realized just how cold the entire
house still was. We estimated the temperature of the house to be around the mid
50’s F.
There were two small fireplaces in the house, which were
fueled by Peat. We remembered hearing about this type of fuel in the Guinness tour in Dublin. They used peat to heat up the different ingredients
used in Guinness. Even after hearing this term and seeing what Peat actually
is.
We were still unsure of how it was made. So Shannon the youngest explained to us
how to collect Peat for the wintertime. During the summer, each of the farm
families goes out to their part of the bog, use a machine that takes the peat
from the ground, compresses it and releases it in large logs. The logs are then
made smaller and laid out to face the sun. A few day later each of the logs are
rotated the other way in order to dry out the entire log. After the sun has
dried out most of the log, the peat is stacked up so that the wind can run
through the stacks to dry out the peat even more. After all of the drying is
done, the family will get large tractors to take the peat back to their farms
and cover the piles until they are needed in the winter time.
After finding out where a lot of Ireland’s fuel comes from,
Kristen and I asked to go see the bogs. While we were out driving looking at
the bog lands, Kristen came up with the brilliant question of asking who owns
the bog or if it is divided. The Brennan’s answer was slightly unclear.
According to what we could hear, the bog lands are actually owned by the
government, but the farms in the area are given rights to certain areas of the
bogs in order to have fuel for their farms. This seemed fair enough to us,
because we could not think of any more uses the bogs could be to the farms.
Naturally, this encouraged the next question, what else is done with a bog
besides to provide the ingredients for making peat? Once again, Shannon was
quick to reply with a snarky attitude that conservationists wanted to preserve
the land for the animals and the generations to come.
We had already seen why the farmers in the area, as well as
the factories within Ireland, use the bogs. They used the areas in order to
keep their families warm and keep their businesses going. When looking on the
conservationist website (http://www.ipcc.ie/
) as to WHY we should keep these bogs for future generations to see, the only
reason I could find that was defendable was for the animals of the bog lands.
Taking away large amounts of these bogs will traumatically affect the wild life
that lives in those areas, but at the same time taking away land rights from
businessmen and farmers will cause a large negative effect on the already bad
Irish economy.
I am hoping to read into this debate a little bit further so
that hopefully I can view both sides a little more equally. Kudos to you if you
are actually taking the time to read through this terribly written page. ß------- Kristen does
not think this is true!
Here are some of the maps of the bog lands in Ireland.
Blanket
Bogs are expansive, generally formed in wet or upland
areas.
Raised
Bogs are smaller, generally formed in lowland areas.
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