Moycullen Heritage Bog Trail

 

Moycullen Heritage Bog trail

Moycullen Heritage

As part of Biodiversity Week 17th-26th May, 2024 Moycullen Heritage will be launching its sixth Heritage Trail, the Bog Trail on Saturday 25th May, 2024. This trail celebrates the rich and diverse heritage of the area. It consists of a 23 km loop travelling from Tonabrocky to Slieveaneena, and from the Spiddal coast road to the N59 in Moycullen.

Geology

Moycullen is situated just to the southwest of the faulted contact between the c. 400 million year old go away granite and the c. 340 million year old carboniferous limestone. The trail area is dominated by blanket bog and a swarm of drumlins located in the Knock-Knockarasser-Gortgar area. The word bug is derived from the Irish word Bogach (meaning soft) a sensible choice of word to describe a landscape that consists of 95% water, the remaining make up of peat being of rotted plants pollen dust etc in favourable conditions, it can take 1000 years to grow 1 metre of peat (approximately 1 millimetre per year). Intact box, which are actively forming Pete, play an important role in combating climate change by removing excess carbon dioxide from the air and placing it into long term storage carbon sinks for thousands of years. They purify water and reduce flooding by their capacity to absorb, hold and slowly release water. The Knock- Knockarasser-Gortgar Drumlins a glacial landforms generally with an elongated teardrop shaped hill composed of glacial debris, for example, boulders, sand and gravel deposited at the base of an ice sheet. The name derives from the Irish word droimnín, Meaning a little Ridge. The drumlins in this area are generally orientated NNE-SSW indicating that the movement of ice, in this part of Connemara, was from the NNE to the SSW during the last glacial maximum of the British and Irish ice sheet (25,000 years ago).

Ecology

The bogs have been designated as a natural heritage area under site code 002364 since 2005 it is an area of extensive lowland blanket bog. There is a diversity of habitats including large areas of blanket bog, wet heath, dry heath alkaline fen re vegetating cutaway. In Europe this type of bog is restricted to Ireland Britain Norway and Iceland. Vegetation is purple more grass cross leaved heath and Ling Heather. A number of pools have islands supporting ling Heather, deer grass, cross leaved heath and bog mosses. The rare unprotected slender cotton grass is found within the site at Tonabrocky the site supports red grouse and several additional notable species of fauna including Irish hare,common frog, snipe, curlew, fox, kestrel and lapwing.

Traditions and ways of life associated with bogs are deeply rooted in our heritage. You may come across features showing our built heritage within the landscape on this trail such as Leaba Diarmuid, Gort Ui Lochlainn or Loughil bridge one of Moycullen’s 9 protected structures.

Heritage

Bogs have been the main source of fuel and also the only source of income for many families especially during famine times.

Other Moycullen Heritage  trails include Killarainey Woods Walk, Sean Relig Loop Walk, Killagoola Loop Walk, The Rocks Road Mini Burren Trail and Tullykyne to Killanin Esker Trail