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One thing that Ireland possesses in abundance is bogs. In this bog-rich country powered mostly by solid-fuel power plants, most households are continuing to shovel into their fireplaces and stoves the same fuel that has been used in Ireland for the past several centuries. Bogs produce turf and turf will burn when dried.
This is the original Irish fuel. Cut painstakingly for centuries from the Irish bog using specially designed, long, flat shovels, turf is harvested by hand in some places today Once cut, the turf is set out to dry in piles. Bord na Mona, the semi-state body in charge of producing this mostly from midland bogs have introduced machinery harvesting and this has made production much more efficient. However, there remains many independent producers with small holdings of bog that use it for their own consumption or sell it to an intermediary who will sell it on to Board an Mona Rights to cut plots of turf from the bog in Ireland have been handed down through families for generations. Even today, adult children return home at the end of summer to assist parents in turning the turf in its drying process.
Turf looks, for the entire world, like a dried piece of mud with bits of vegetable matter sprinkled through it. In reality, a vegetable matter has been buried and compressed in the strange and harsh bog environment for thousands of years. Left to itself for another several thousand years, this stuff would be well on its way to becoming a more potent fossil fuel.
You can always tell when winter has hit Ireland by the lovely smell of turf burning. Unfortunately, it does smoke quite a bit, but it produces an aromatic smoke with a lovely character. It takes a while to catch, relying more on heat than open flame. Turf takes a while to light, but once caught it burns completely to ash and provides a long-lasting, warm fire. No wonder the ancient Celts made it a habit to use this as their primary fuel.
Turf is quickly disappearing as the Irish need for fuel increases. Scientists tell us that turf will no longer be burned in as little as 5 years from now. Already it is illegal to burn turf in certain metropolitan Irish areas (like Dublin). In the midlands, you can find places to harvest your own turf for a fee or purchase harvested turf from numerous private entrepreneurs who have more turf than they can use personally. Chances are, if you visit an older country pub in Ireland they will be burning turf in the fireplace.
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