According to the Valuation Office records, in 1861 Richard Crown and seven other Pollboy tenants banded together to pay tax on 73 acres of land that was assessed as bog. One sixth of Ireland's terrain is classified as bog, more than any other country in Europe except Finland. Click here to learn about the two types of bogs: blanket bogs, which we saw on our driving tour of the Wicklow Mountains south of Dublin, and raised bogs, which would be the kind found in central Ireland, including County Leitrim.
In Ireland, the word "turf" refers to peat, which is the decayed, compressed organic matter found in bogs. It was the primary source of heating fuel in Ireland for thousands of years. In 1861, 162 years ago, rural Irish families like that of Richard Crown in Pollboy worked like crazy to bring in crops of turf, which literally had as much or even more significance than bringing in their agricultural crops. Here is a visual overview, but this 6+ minute video gives an even better perspective. The collective effort to harvest turf in order to survive each winter was enormous.
Ironically, turf is today considered a dirty fuel, even more so than coal. And now, the cutting of turf by machine has begun to threaten what is essentially a unique and rare habitat. And so, the subject of turf-cutting is now an issue of hot debate in Ireland, and I wonder what Richard Crown would have to say. I would tell him, Look, you can relax now, and then show him my mini-split heat pump powered by electric from my solar panels, which, yes Richard, do still work on cloudy and rainy days. He'd probably reply, See how you know nothing of Irish culture and identity, that the sweet smoky aroma of a turf fire is not only distinctive, ancient oaks and moss, but its nostalgia is a certain gateway into the long rural traditions of our ancient peoples. And then I would say, Tell me more.
No comments:
Post a Comment