LESS than 20-years ago it would have almost been unimaginable . . . a 1,000 acres stretch of bog in North Galway with not a sod of turf being cut on it for a decade and a half.

Now, Carrownagappul Bog, on the Newbridge Road close to Mountbellew is being visited by students and scientists from Europe to see at first hand, ‘The Living Bog’ experience.

Considered to be a ‘classic’ in terms of a preserved raised bog site, the latest high-profile visitors to the bog were a group from the highly influential European Union Agricultural Committee.

MEPs from Spain, Portugal and Slovakia joined up with Irish North West MEPs Ciaran Mullooly and Maria Walsh to experience Carrownagappul ‘Living Bog’.

Chairperson of the local Bog Committee, Paul Connaughton, told the Farming Tribune that while it had been a long and sometimes tough journey since the project was first mooted, it had been a wonderful success.

“I suppose that back in 2010 and 2011, no one who was cutting turf here wanted to leave the bog and the advice from a lot of people was to sign nothing that might compromise their rights.

“But of about 150 people who were cutting turf there, 120 or so of them, opted for a 15-year compensation packages while the remaining 30 opted for a bog relocation option, allowing them to cut turf at another bog not too far away for up to the next 60-years,” said Paul Connaughton.

In the initial stages of the negotiations, Paul Connaughton said that the proposals were controversial, complex and divisive with up to 14 revisions being undertaken before the final set of proposals could be agreed on.

Now, with the help of considerable State/EU grants and aids, the project has cost in the region of €1.5 million but has become more popular with each passing year in terms of visiting tour parties, scientists and researchers.

Up to 12-kilometres of an old roadway both around and through the bog, have been transformed into walkways, including boardwalks, and various viewing areas.

Paul Connaughton credits the Pobal funded local Galway Telework Co-op based in Mountbellew Mart and Manager, Maura Hannon, with playing an ‘absolutely critical role’ in the development of the project.

“Without Pobal, the Telework Co-Op and Maura Hannon, this project would be an awful long way off from where it is today.

“For example, visiting groups and scientists, can come to the co-op premises and view a short video outlining the history and development of the project.

“It has now to the stage where we are preparing a copy of this video in the French language given the number of students from France who are coming to visit here each year,” said Paul Connaughton.

“There isn’t a single month of the year that we don’t have visiting groups including TV camera crews from places like Finland and from the BBC,” said Paul Connaughton.

At the centre of Carrownagappul Bog is a spot known as ‘Patche’s Garden’ where a man from the area lived in a small cottage and which is now a focal point for the talks and discussions on the history of the place.

Looking to the future, Paul Connaughton, sees the project developing even further with hopes of recreating Patche’s little cottage and also in the location of an interpretative centre at a location – not in the bog – but very close to the edge of it.

Tour Guide for Carrownagappul Bog is Marie Gilmore who outlines to visitors the history, customs, ecological importance, climate betterment and turfcutting experiences of people who lived in the area back the generations.

“The only this project could ever have worked was with the support of the national Government and the EU to give the necessary financial assistance to farmers and local people who had cut turf here for generations.

“The dividend from all of this is the hugely positive role that projects like Carrownagappul’s Living Bog can have in terms of achieving our carbon emissions target for 2030 while at the same time not short-changing the local people whose role was so crucial in making this all happen,” said Paul Connaughton.

The 120 plus turfcutters who opted the compensation package received a payment an index linked annual payment of €1,500 per year for a 15-year period.

For the 30 or so turfcutters who opted to ‘move bogs’ they were also supplied with a 14-tonne load of turf from Board na Móna for the year or two it took to make their new banks accessible via new or revamped roadways.

“It was a very tough and complex process at the start and I suppose that there were people for very good reasons thought that this just couldn’t work out . . . but it has, and now we’re all looking forward to the next exciting stage in building on the success of our Living Bog project,” said Paul Connaughton.

Pictured: An aerial view of part of Carrownagappul Bog.