Summary, References and Resources

Summary

In this chapter, we have seen the value that Ireland’s natural landscapes bring to its people – including Lough Neagh’s role in providing drinking water and a source for recreation for those living in Northern Ireland; likewise, we can see the value that bogs have across the island of Ireland in storing carbon and purifying water. Both bogs and lakes in Ireland, of course, sustain ecosystems important to the livelihood of the Irish landscape too.

We have seen how commercial interests, including farming practices, sand dredging, and peat extraction, have physical ramifications on Lough Neagh and Ireland’s boglands. On one hand, there is a push for the financial gain that comes from extracting natural resources – such as peat and sand – that are used to propel industries that rely on easily sourced fuels and building materials. In this vein, there are many in the supply chain who financially benefit from, and/or rely on, these resources and their extraction as a source of income. For some, including those with turbary rights (i.e., cultural rights to extract peat within a community) and for farmers in Northern Ireland, the imposition of restrictions on farming or peat extraction practices runs counter to cultural practices embedded within community lives centered around farming or the cutting of turf.

In this chapter’s case studies, we can see the value of the natural landscape in the physical, cultural, and human aspects of life for those living in and around these natural wonders. We have seen how communities have enacted protests, events, and applied for funding to resist environmental injustices, as well as efforts to enact the rebuilding of areas impacted by the physical interventions of corporations. Activists are also involved in educational programs to inform Irish youth of the impacts of commercial extraction in these areas; they also engage with politicians, appealing for policies and regulations that could curb the unnecessary negative (and at times irreversible) impacts on Ireland’s lakes and bogs.

We can see the vital role that Irish lakes and bogs play in the future of the Irish landscape. For bogs, they can play a vital role in environmental sustainability as carbon sinks, and thus, their sustainability is crucial. Likewise, as Lough Neagh is a major source of drinking water for Northern Ireland, its degradation has real, physical impacts on the future livelihoods of both humans and animals in the region.

References

Banting, Erinn. 2002. Ireland: The Culture. New York: Crabtree Pub.

Bord na Móna. 2021. “Peatland Restoration.” Accessed August 19, 2024.

Corr, Shauna. 2024. “Save Lough Neagh want sand extraction suspended and potential impact on blue-green algae investigated.” BelfastLive. Accessed August 19, 2024.

Clara Bog Nature Reserve, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. 2021. “How bogs form.” Accessed August 19, 2024.

Creative Ireland. 2021. “Ancient Life Under Carlow’s Only Raised Bog.” Accessed August 19, 2024.

Drummin Bog Project a. n.d. “Project Aims.” Accessed August 19, 2024.

Drummin Bog Project b. n.d. “Restoration: 2021 NPWS Peatland Engagement Scheme Award assists in re-wetting Drummin Bog.” Accessed August 19, 2024.

Environmental Protection Agency. 2024. “What impact will climate change have on Ireland?” Accessed August 20, 2024.

Greene, Tommy. 2022. “Lough Neagh: Scars from dredging will take ‘decades if not centuries’ to recover.” The Irish Times. Accessed August 19, 2024.

International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). n.d. “Peatlands and climate change.” Accessed August 19, 2024.

Irish Peat Conservation Council. n.d. “Sphagnum Moss – the Bog Builder.” Accessed August 19, 2024.

O’Sullivan, Kevin. 2021. “Gulf Stream lifeline at its weakest in more than a millennium.” The Irish Times. Accessed August 19, 2024.

Orr, James. 2018. “Lough Neagh: why Europe’s wildlife jewel needs space to breathe.” Friends of the Earth. Last modified September 27, 2024, Accessed October 9, 2024.

People Before Profit. 2023. “Lough Neagh Algae Bloom A Civil Rights Issue – McCann.” Accessed August 19, 2024.

The Peatlands, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. n.d. “Boglands.” Accessed August 19, 2024.

United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP). 2019. “Peatlands store twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests.” Accessed August 19, 2024.

WaterOne. n.d. “Blue-Green Algae.” Accessed August 19, 2024.

Resources

Cochrane, Amy. 2024. “Protesters gather on south shore of Lough Neagh to save NI’s main drinking water source.” Belfast Telegraph. Accessed August 19, 2024.

Drummin Bog Project. n.d. “Podcast/Radio.” Accessed August 27, 2024.

Fitzgerald, Cathy. 2022. “‘Slow time on the Bog’: painter Mairead Holohan celebrates Carlow’s Drummin Bog.” Drummin Bog Project. Accessed August 19, 2024.

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The Making of the Irish Landscape Copyright © 2024 by Katie Young is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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