North Atlantic Skyline - - Photographs from the west of Ireland (Galway, Mayo, Clare, Limerick, Roscommon and even Leitrim)

Buried in time

The stumps of ancient pine trees uncovered by turf-cutting. Five thousand years ago, this part of Ireland was covered in pine forests. Over time, both climate and human influence led to bogs forming, burying the remainder of the forest until now. When the bogland is finally dug and up and burned off, the land may well be used for forestry again - sitka spruce instead of the Scots pine that once covered these hills - and the cycle will begin again. This photograph of the turf saved - it's covered under the straw - was take a month ago on a hot September Saturday, on the road to Little Killary Bay. Mweel Rea (Cnoc Maol Réidh) looms like an ogre in the background.