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Open Country: Ireland - Peat

16/08/2012

Ireland - Peat

BBC Radio 4 - Open Country, Ireland - Peat

Helen Mark is in Ireland, looking at attitudes down the centuries to the peat bogs.

Helen Mark is in Ireland, looking at attitudes down the centuries to the peat bogs of the midlands.

The peat bogs of Ireland's midlands have become a battlefield, with opinions divided on how they should best be managed in the future. Helen Mark looks beyond the present-day arguments and travels to Counties Longford, Roscommon and Offaly to find out how attitudes to the bog have evolved over centuries. From the Iron Age Corlea trackway, an oak road discovered just a few years ago, perfectly preserved in peat, to startling evidence of early Christian links with Africa and memories of childhood days spent peat cutting , Helen explores what the bog has to tell us - and what it might have in store for the future.

Presenter: Helen Mark
Producer: Moira Hickey.

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