Development

Looking back 50 Years – Some Memories of Boora

Dr Finbar Callanan former Bord na Mona Chief Civil Engineer Taken from Sceal na Móna, Vol. 13, no. 60, December 2006, p39-43. I joined Bord na Móna on the 1st of June 1956. Prior to joining the Board I was engaged on the design of the new jetties and harbour facilities for the port of Waterford which had a sizeable expansion programme under...

Tags: Work, Development, 1970s, Innovation, 1960s, Scéal na Móna, 1950s

Charles Hodgson’s Briquette Factory Derrylea 1860-1867

T.A. Barry Taken from Sceal na Móna, Vol. 1, no. 23, Nov/Dec 1975, p5 The flood-plain of the Rivers Cushina and Figile, tributaries of the Barrow and only three to four miles from Monasterevin as the crow flies, is a remote and lonely countryside, even to-day. In the spring of 1975, only a few scattered stones and a suggestion of long wall...

Tags: Development, Innovation, Scéal na Móna, Pre-1930s

Getting the best from the bog

The Energy Division of Bord na Móna employs circa 750 staff, rising to 1250 during the harvesting season. Accounting for over €100 million a year, peat production and sales is a significant element of the company. To the forefront are the teams out there on the bogs, harvesting the best dry peat There’s a beauty all of its own to the midlands...

Tags: Present and Future, Development, Innovation, Source

Third Development Programme

Taken from Scéal na Móna, Vol. 1, no. 18, Summer 1974, p2-4 When the serious threat to this country’s fuel supply resulting from restrictions in the flow of Arab oil became apparent last autumn, Bord na Móna carried out a re-examination of bog areas which had previously been considered incapable of economic development in the face of low...

Tags: Development, 1970s, Scéal na Móna

Sod Peat

By J. D. Power, Technical Development Section Taken from Irish Engineers Journal Supplement, 1970, p31-33. The mechanisation of sod peat production received its first impetus in Germany towards the end of the last century. With the rapid expansion of industry, fuel became scarce, the price of coal rose considerably and the possibility of...

Tags: Work, Development, External Publications, 1960s, 1950s

Research on Turf in Ireland

H. M. S. MILLER Taken from Administration, Vol. 7, no. 1, Spring 1959, p49-55. IRELAND has many deserts. They cover about one-seventh of the land and they are as wet as most of the great deserts of the world are dry. This is not a new simile for the bogs of Ireland but it is a good one and bears repeating. Deserts have become a challenge to...

Tags: Development, External Publications, Innovation, 1950s, 1940s

My Recollection of the Cottage Schemes

By Sean Mc Namara Taken from A Path Through the Bog, John P. Larkin & Owen Denneny, 1995, p24-27. I am Sean Mc Namara, born in 1923 in Co. Roscommon and qualified B.E in UCG in 1945. I worked in the Co. Council offices for about six months, without salary, to gain experience. I was then appointed supervisor at 13/6d. per day for a six...

Tags: Development, External Publications, Community, 1950s

Moss Peat Production

By S. L. Rice, Technical Development Section Taken from Irish Engineers Journal Supplement, 1970, p38-39 PRODUCTION of moss peat by Bord na Móna which last year amounted to over half a million cubic metres has made remarkable strides since the first factory was planned in 1946. A cubic metre of moss peat as cut on the bog when dried produces...

Tags: Work, Development, External Publications, 1960s

Milled Peat Production

By H. C. Flood, Technical Development Section Taken from Irish Engineers Journal Supplement, 1970, p23-27. The term "Milled Peat" is used to describe peat in crumb or powder form. It has a mean particle size of about 1/4' in diameter ranging from about 1/2" to fine dust. When air dried to a moisture content of 55% by weight it has a loose...

Tags: Work, Development, External Publications, 1960s, 1950s

Marketing in Bord na Móna

By C. B. Murphy, Sales Manager Taken from Irish Engineers Journal Supplement, 1970, p40-46. BORD NA MONA has a fairly large range of products-all of them derived from peat but processed and sold in various forms for different uses and markets. Sod machine turf is used for electricity generation. It is also used as a domestic fuel and in hand...

Tags: Development, External Publications, 1960s