Mayo features in international documentary 'peat' series on TG4
Rúin na bPortach (Secrets in the Peat) is a three-part series on TG4 which explores the magnificent peatlands in Ireland and around the globe.
The series, which started last week, continues today (Wednesday) with presenter Cormac Ó hÁdhmaill as he uncovers the layers of history preserved by peat.
Cormac meets Professor Séamus Caulfield, the archaeologist who discovered the significance of Mayo's Céide Fields complex.
Elsewhere, in the National Museum of Ireland, Eamonn Ned Kelly talks about the fascinating human remains found preserved in time in our bogs and what they can tell us about a time before our history books began.
Also featured in the second episode of Rúin na bPortach are Professor Helen Sheridan, who has been studying with her team the medicinal benefits of a variety of plants found on bogs and which have been used as folk cures for generations; Miriam Ryan of the Oldcroghan Man Walking Tour; Martin Downes, Professor Emeritus in biology at Maynooth University; and Sophie Whyms, research assistant.
In Canada, an indigenous First Nations community are handed back the reigns as they are tasked with being a key part in an innovative peatlands research centre.
Episode one, which was broadcast on TG4 last Wednesday and can be seen on the TG4 Player, looked at the cultural influence of boglands on the art and music of Scotland and Ireland. Professor Matthijs Schouten revealed how a visit to Ireland in the 1970s prompted him to start a campaign to save Irish bogs having seen the impact of the Dutch peat industry on the already low-lying land of the Netherlands.
Elsewhere, Annemarie Ní Churreáin explained how bogs and landscape inspire her poetry as Cormac met her in Donegal’s stunning Poison Glen. Cormac also travelled to Finland to meet people who believe peat should be considered a renewable resource.
Stiofán Mac Lochlainn, a farmer in Co. Donegal, Art Agnew, chairman, Patrick Kavanagh Centre, writer John Connell, Jonny Dillon, associate archivist at the National Folklore Collection, are also in the first episode of Rúin na bPortach.
Next week (Wednesday, November 29), episode three features some of the world’s leading experts in bogland science and restoration. Cormac meets with Irish researchers who are using 19th century maps to identify areas of bogland that could potentially be restored to active living bog.
Eugene Dunbar, local activist, Cloncrow Bog, and Mícheál Callaghan, development officer, Community Wetlands Forum, are part of episode three of Rúin na bPortach, and back in Canada, world expert in bog restoration, Dr. Line Rochefort, explains her methods of replanting sphagnum. Finally, a wildfire research scientist explains how healthy peatlands quell the spread of potentially devastating fires.
Peatlands cover just 3% of the planet but store more carbon than all the forests of the world combined. In the fight against climate change, could they be our silent saviours?
Cormac Ó hÁdhmaill commented: “It’s arguable that a series of three one-hour programmes does not give enough time to reflect the huge importance of bogs in the archaeology, history, culture and psyche of Ireland.
“In making this series, we did go some way towards that goal. I looked at bodies ritually buried in bogs, customs and practices associated with bogs, what science can reveal about how bogs grow and develop, and the life found within them. And I also learned to appreciate in a deep, visceral way how important bogs are in mitigating some of the excesses of modern life and the existential threats we face.
“But nothing is ever simple. When I stood on a bog in Finland ripped apart for fuel and left a brown lifeless desert, I was nearly brought to tears at what we were doing to the environment, putting short-term gains ahead of long-term security of the Earth. But when I spoke both to those cutting turf for personal use and those harvesting it on an industrial scale, I was struck by the economic arguments driving these practices and, though necessary, how difficult it will be to bring them to an end. I was given lots to think about in this series, and so too will viewers.”
This wonderful landmark factual series Rúin na bPortach is a Below the Radar TV, Mac TV and Idéacom International UK-Canada Treaty co-production for TG4, BBC NI, MG Alba, Radio-Canada and RTBF. The series received funding from Northern Ireland Screen's Irish Language Broadcast Fund, Screen Scotland and the Canada Media Fund, and was also supported by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Celtic International Fund.
Proinsias Ní Ghráinne, the commissioning editor for TG4, highlighted during the launch that Rúin na bPortach is a shining example of a successful co-production between Ireland north and south, Canada and Scotland. “This is how we can work together to make projects of big ambition and scale that remain true to our audience interests and language,” he stated.