Bogs & nature – the living landscape around Daingean

Daingean sits on the edge of the Bog of Allen [OCC Town Plan]. For generations the bogs gave fuel, work and a way of life – Bord na Móna and the ESB station at Rhode employed many local people [Wikipedia]. Industrial peat harvesting has now finished on the nearby Bord na Móna bogs, and they are being rewetted so moss, wildlife and carbon storage can return [Bord na Móna PCAS].

Places to know

• Raheenmore Bog – north-west of Daingean, the deepest known raised bog in Ireland (about 15 m). A 162 ha NPWS nature reserve, Ramsar site and Special Area of Conservation. Not open to the public – visit Clara Bog’s visitor centre instead [Wikipedia].
• Daingean Bog – a proposed Natural Heritage Area (pNHA 002033) close to the town [Bord na Móna plan], named in the Town Plan as a natural heritage asset to protect [OCC Town Plan].
• Daingean Rathdrum & Daingean Derries – former production bogs, Rathdrum about 3.5 km west of Daingean, being rehabilitated by drain-blocking and rewetting under the Peatlands Climate Action Scheme [Bord na Móna PCAS].
• Clonad Bog – south of Daingean towards Geashill, with a 2021 rehabilitation plan of rewetting, berms and sphagnum planting [Bord na Móna PCAS].
• The sundew – a tiny carnivorous bog plant that traps insects on sticky red hairs, and the emblem of Daingean’s festival. Join a “Find the Sundew” walk in June [Offaly Express].
• The canal and Philipstown River – green corridors where you may see swans, kingfishers and otters along the Grand Canal Way [Waterways Ireland; OCC Town Plan].

Peatland heritage: Old Croghan Man, the Iron Age bog body found near Croghan Hill in 2003, shows how bogs keep their secrets [NMI]. Ask older neighbours about turf-cutting, Bord na Móna and the bog trains – and share their stories with us.

Bog etiquette: bogs are fragile and can be dangerous. Stay on paths, don’t pick plants or disturb nesting birds, and never enter active Bord na Móna or private land without permission.