‘Turbary writes’ a different kind of cultural experience during Laois Heritage Week

A PREMIER highlight of national heritage week titled Turbary Writes was a collaboration of creativity between Brian Gorman of Artful Parks, Clonaghadoo/Geashill and Amanda Kelly of the Power of Words Events, Abbeyleix, who are connected through the inspiration of writer and former senator John Whelan.

Between Laois and Offaly, around 130 heritage week events were listed on the official guides, with Turbary Writes listed on both, with Clonaghadoo bordering both counties. Around 150 people of all ages gathered from early evening on Saturday 22 August for the event, which received official backing from Laois heritage officer Thomas Carolan, Offaly heritage officer Amanda Pedlow, Creative Ireland and the Heritage Council. The superb Turbary Writes event (a play on words from wordsmith Amanda) perfectly fitted this year’s theme of Heritage at risk by celebrating the cultural shift of midland boglands from traditional peat harvesting to environmental restoration, conservation and community sanctuary.

People mingled and reminisced over light refreshments before being treated to a very different kind of cultural experience. Brian led the majority of the group through a 1.5-kilometre loop of the 40-acre landscape, once defined by work, machinery and turf banks, but now being carefully reimagined as a place of restoration, tourism, learning, art and quiet wonder.

In the soft stillness of the bog, the crowd listened as Brian explained how his family’s cutaway peatland is being transformed into a living example of ecological renewal. For generations, the Gorman family bog was part of the everyday rhythm of rural life. The hum of machinery, the scent of cut turf and the steady work of harvesting peat sustained households across the region. For more than 50 years, the family helped supply fuel to 150 local families, making the bog not just a workplace but a vital thread in the social and economic fabric of the area.

When environmental legislation brought commercial peat harvesting to an end in 2022, the family faced a profound turning point. They could walk away from the land or find a new way to honour it. They chose renewal.

That renewal is now taking shape through Artful Parks, Brian’s ambitious project to turn the family’s private cutaway bog into an environmental, artistic and educational destination. Brian spoke with pride about the work already carried out and the vision still ahead. His aim is not merely to preserve a piece of bogland but to show how places once associated with extraction can become places of healing, biodiversity and community benefit.

The guided tour gave visitors a close-up view of the transformation. Brian described the careful rewetting of the bog, a process that reverses decades of drainage by blocking old channels, building peat barriers and allowing rainwater to lift the water table back towards the surface.

In doing so, the land begins to breathe differently. Sphagnum moss and other peat-forming plants were seen to return, carbon is held in the ground and the bog gradually moves from damaged cutaway back towards a functioning wetland habitat quite quickly.

There is also a deeply personal dimension to the work. Long before commercial harvesting ended, Brian had begun small acts of conservation, including transplanting native bog cotton by hand. Today, those early efforts have grown into striking white drifts across the landscape, a visible sign that the bog is responding. The family’s experience in earthworks, including restoration contracts with Bord na Móna and the National Parks and Wildlife Service has given Artful Parks both practical expertise and credibility. But at its heart the project remains a family story, a labour of love shaped by memory, responsibility and imagination.

After the tour, the bog became a natural amphitheatre for the literary, song and music evening curated with warmth and style by Amanda Kelly. The Power of Words began to flow as poets, speakers and musicians brought their voices to the open air. The setting gave the performances a rare intimacy which wasn’t culture placed beside nature but culture emerging from nature.

Music filled the air from The Outcast Crew featuring father and son Brian and Finn O’Mahony, a harp piece by Kylah Melia Hyland and a violin piece by her brother Cooper from Kilcavan and duets by Edel Conway of Clonaslee comhaltas on vocals and concertina with Kieu Conroy of Portlaoise comhaltas on harp.

Stories and poems were shared onstage by Amanda Kelly, Siobhán Hoy, Arthur Broomfield, Michael Carroll, John Lalor, Mountmellick Arts Collective members Colette Wrafter and Sheelagh Coyle and sixth-year student at the Sacred Heart Secondary School in Tullamore Chrissie Plunkett, who won the Oireachtas essay competition for Leinster this year.

The man responsible for putting it together, John Whelan, was inspired by the boglands and memories of working on the bog as a five or six-year-old with his grandfather and uncles and he wrote a poem specifically for the Turbary Writes event titled Kyletaleesha, which saw its world premiere in the middle of the bog as he recited the six-and-a-half-minute piece.

Notably, former Laois/Offaly independent TD Carol Nolan, who is currently an independent TD for the Offaly constituency, attended the event. What made Turbary Writes so special was how it balanced celebration with seriousness. It honoured the people who worked the bog, the families who depended on it and the traditions that grew around it. At the same time, it pointed towards a future where bogs are valued for biodiversity, carbon storage, education, art and sustainable tourism.

Brian’s long-term vision includes a sculpture park, low-impact visitor experiences and a world-class eco-destination that can support surrounding rural communities in a new way. As the final music drifted through the stillness of Clonaghadoo, the message was clear. The story of the Gorman bog is not over. Thanks to the super collaboration of John, Brian and Amanda, it is being creatively rewritten.

The Power of Words Events meet to share music, song, and stories in Mooney’s pub, Abbeyleix from 7-9pm on the first Friday of every month. Everyone is welcome. More information on Artful Parks can be found on the website www.artfulparks.ie.