Verified source report
Documenting Ireland’s vanishing boglands: ‘They hold millennia in their layers’
Photographer Shane Hynan explores the tension between the central role peat bogs play in Irish life and their wider environmental impact “You can read Ireland’s history in the boglands . They hold millennia in their layers,” says photographer Shane Hynan of his project, Beofhód ( meaning Beneath in English). The boglands, known as portachs in Irish, cover roughly 1.2m to 1.5m hectares or about 14% to 17% of the country’s total land area. The raised bogs of the Irish Midlands are made of peat that forms at a rate of 1mm a year (0.04in) in low-lying, poorly drained basins or former lakes. As the historical geographer Kevin Whelan observes in the Atlas of the Irish Rural Landscape, “the bog has been etched as deeply into the human as into the physical record in Ireland – to an extent unrivalled elsewhere.” Eddie and Con footing turf for domestic use, Knockirr Bog, County Kildare, 2022. Cont
coverage / Source report
What happened
According to The Guardian’s source item, Documenting Ireland’s vanishing boglands: ‘They hold millennia in their layers’, Photographer Shane Hynan explores the tension between the central role peat bogs play in Irish life and their wider environmental impact “You can read Ireland’s history in the boglands . They hold millennia in their layers,” says photographer Shane Hynan of his project, Beofhód ( meaning Beneath in English). The boglands, known as portachs in Irish, cover roughly 1.2m to 1.5m hectares or about 14% to 17% of the country’s total land area. The raised bogs of the Irish Midlands are made of peat that forms at a rate of 1mm a year (0.04in) in low-lying, poorly drained basins or former lakes. As the historical geographer Kevin Whelan observes in the Atlas of the Irish Rural Landscape, “the bog has been etched as deeply into the human as into the physical record in Ireland – to an extent unrivalled elsewhere.” Eddie and Con footing turf for domestic use, Knockirr Bog, County Kildare, 2022. Cont
Context
The development sits in VINI’s Global file for readers following international affairs, institutions, conflict, diplomacy, economics, and cross-border consequences. The original report is linked so readers can check the source account, follow later updates, and compare new coverage against the first published record. The source item is dated 2026-06-24T05:00:35+00:00.
What to watch
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Source
Primary source: Documenting Ireland’s vanishing boglands: ‘They hold millennia in their layers’ via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.
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Source links
- Documenting Ireland’s vanishing boglands: ‘They hold millennia in their layers’The Guardian - 2026-06-24T05:00:35+00:00
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