The Bog Village Museum

Founded by Jeremiah Mulvihill, the Bog Village represents how the turf cutters lived and worked in the peatlands. Peat is a soil that is made up of layers of roots, leaves, grasses and other vegetation found in the "bogs" - waterlogged for thousands of years. Peatlands originally covered more than 17% of the land area of Ireland and high rainfall and poor drainage contribute to their existence. These two photos show how peat would be harvested and used for heat and cooking. OurIrish tour guide Tom said the smell of peat burning is a very nostalgic smell for the Irish.

 

Wandering through the bog village reminded me of Shelburne Museum, for those that have a chance to visit there! Houses had mud or stone floors, thatched roofs, tiny windows and there was a  smell that permeated everything that was from the burning of the peat. Can you imagine living at this time?

A new, but shy, Kerry Pony!

 This is Fionn and Kerry - Irish Wolfhounds. They are big, but seemed gentle! As a breed they weigh about 120#'s   and are 3'+ tall. Once the wolfhound was only owned by nobles, kings & poets and they hunted elk, wolves and boar. They were brought back from near extinction by the end of the 19th century. 

This is a photo I borrowed to give you an idea on the size of the wolf hounds!

The bog is also very good at preserving bodies and other things! These photos I took at the National Museum in Dublin where there was an exhibition on the "Bog Bodies" specifically. The skin looked like leather - very unsettling! Apparently these people were killed (sacrificed, actually), dismembered and thrown into the bogs....

The Red Fox Inn, next door to the museum, that is famous for their Irish Coffee! Personally not a big fan... it is the whiskey, I think.