Lough Foyle, Moville co. Donegal
23 April, 2020
footing the turf
was a back-breaking job and involved placing five or six sods of turf upright and leaning against each other. Finally, the turf was brought home and stored in sheds or ricks. In the midlands and the West of Ireland, the tradition of using turf or peat as fuel has continued in many homes.
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Interesting, I´ve never heard of this! Just what did we learn at school? Nothing!
ReplyDeleteThank you for finally teaching ;-)
Another sunny day here, have a good one, Bill!
I didn't know if they are dehydrated you can burn it in the stove!
ReplyDeleteThank for sharing!
Have a nice day, Bill!
And the turf is still in use?
ReplyDeleteYes, there are some folks that still use it and do this work every year.
DeleteThat's a job I'm happy to leave to someone else!
ReplyDeleteThat's a big job and I've heard of it being used as fuel.
ReplyDeleteI've often wondered how well peat served as a fuel.
ReplyDeleteI have seen that on our trip of 2014.
ReplyDelete...something that I've heard of, but have never seen.
ReplyDeleteGood plan, burn the earth. Let's have a little more pollution. Maybe throw the sewage out the window too!
ReplyDeleteBackbreaking work indeed!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing Bill...I am amazed that this is still a way of life for some ☕
I find that fascinating!
ReplyDeleteMore history caught in photos. Well done, Bill.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Amazing.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful.
ReplyDeleteSeems like a good alternative to wood burning stoves, which are still used here in the mountains, and somehow the trees for this purpose aren't ever missed. Now the ones cut to make toilet paper...another story.
ReplyDeleteGosh that looks like hard work Bill 😱
ReplyDeleteI wonder how efficient it is a s a fuel source, Bill?
ReplyDeleteThere was a lot of work involved in getting peat. Wood was also a lot of work. we are fortunate that we have it easy to keep warm in our house.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of this before but I guess I didn't realize that it was still being done in some locations.
ReplyDeleteGoodness!
ReplyDeleteThat does look backbreaking.
All the best Jan
I think it is good that they use turf to warm up houses.Do they use them on the roof as well?!I quess it smells very Nice of Earth!And keeps them warm in Winther(time flyes away soon it is that time again)
ReplyDeleteWish you all good and thanx for sharing!
I'd never heard that term before! I was fascinated at the peat harvesting we saw while in Ireland in 2017. I really enjoyed the peat fires, too, in the b&b in Sligo. We burned wood for years. A lot of work and mess, but even now that we have free gas, we still use the wood-burning fireplace regularly. There's just something about a wood fire.
ReplyDeleteIn the past peat was used everywhere here to warm up houses.
ReplyDeleteSurprising that turf is still used as fuel. It has a distinctive smell when burned, a bit like coal, but more organic. This fuel source goes far back in history. Interesting photo.
ReplyDeleteI bet that took a while.
ReplyDeleteNever knew that turf is still being cut.
ReplyDeleteI'd never thought of the work involved in peat harvesting. I wonder if there's any concern about there being adequate supplies.
ReplyDeleteThat is a new term for me.
ReplyDeleteWe watched them do this on our walking trip in Ireland. Very interesting and hard work!
ReplyDeleteAlternate fuel.
ReplyDeleteI have strong memories of knowing we were approaching rural towns by the smell of peat fires. We once rented my great grandfather's house in the pastures between Ennis and Kilrush and the choice was peat or chill.
ReplyDeleteWe also had turf mining not far from here
ReplyDeletebut they have stopped now with it for many years
Hi Bill.
ReplyDeleteLots of work Bill.
Greetings from Patricia.
Interesting!
ReplyDeleteMB