1.0 INTRODUCTION Kildare County Council in association - Kildare.ie

More documents

Recommendations

Info

AUDIT OF MUSEUMS AND PUBLIC COLLECTIONS IN COUNTY KILDARE 2006 5.7 BOG OF ALLEN NATURE CENTRE ADDRESS: Irish Peatland Conservation Council (IPCC) Bog of Allen Nature Centre Lullymore Rathangan Co. Kildare CONTACT: Nuala Madigan EMAIL: bogs@ipcc.ie PHONE: 045-860133 SUMMARY OF ORGANIZATION AND COLLECTION: The Irish Peatland Conservation Council was established in 1982 as a charitable organization. Originally Dublin based, the IPCC moved to Lullymore in 2004, acquiring a property from Teagasc. The IPCC’s Bog of Allen Nature Centre is the public face of the organization, which has a wide remit in the lobbying for and conservation of Ireland’s peatland heritage. The Centre is both the headquarters of the organization and also operates a number of important services. From the Centre the IPCC organizes and monitors a number of annual surveys including the Frog Survey. The exhibition Centre has an entry fee. The core body of the Nature Centre exhibition and its format was inherited when the property was purchased from Teagasc. It forms part of a business development plan and requires updating. It begins with the interior of a thatched house, with many items on display that were donated to Teagasc over the years. When the IPCC took over the ownership and management of the property many of those who donated objects on display began to remove the objects and the ambiguity of ownership status emerged with serious problem arising from a total lack of documentation on ownership and acquisition when the item was donated. The next section of the exhibition comprises an audio-visual display showing “ Discovering the Wild Boglands”. It is housed in a room which displays panels on the Irish Army Corp and Lullymore Camp; Danes Road; the Monastic Settlement and the Murphy Family. Artifacts in this room are positioned on the floor and include an early Christian stone cross and a corn grinding stone from an early Christian settlement. The principal exhibition room at ground floor level interprets the ecology, heritage and archaeology of the bog. The exhibition explores bog cutting from the hand-cutting method to the industrialization of this by An Bord Na Mona. Concurrent with the history of human interaction with the bog is a series of displays on the ecology of boglands, its formation and flora and fauna. A three-dimensional display represents the various components of a bog and its associated wildlife. Along one side of the room there is a display entitled “Steps in Time Down Through the Ages” which plots the development of the bog from the resent day to 3000 BC. A mural plots the development while an open-display exhibit of tools and implements indicate the human activity associated. These include: a sléan, a billy can, a turf barrow and a section of pine or deal bog timber. The exhibition also includes sections on the following aspects of bog heritage: • A mural of the History of the Bog of Allen • Plants of the Boglands • Insects of Irish Peatlands • Objects inspired by Bogs and Fens • New and Ancient Treasures Recovered from Bogs and Fens A pre-Christian bog oak timber canoe and the skull and antlers from a Great Irish Elk are the most dramatic items on display in the exhibition. Smaller items housed in glass display cases include a display of bog insects. CHARLES DUGGAN ARHITECTURAL HERITAGE ADVISOR 16
AUDIT OF MUSEUMS AND PUBLIC COLLECTIONS IN COUNTY KILDARE 2006 A section of the exhibition is dedicated to the heritage of bog cutting in Ireland and Europe. It is centred around a large model of a peat briquette processing plant. Graphic display panels show the development of the industry in Ireland during the 1940s and 1950s. A display of briquette fuel from other European countries is also on display. The first floor of the exhibition is dedicated largely to the natural heritage of bogs. The displays include naturalistic recreations of the following: • Fen Animals • Invertebrates • A Herborium • And a composite of exhibitions which have taken place that relates to the heritage of the bogs An important part of the organization and the centre is the on-going development of an extensive archive and library of material relating to the peatland heritage. The material is largely primary documentation in the form of surveys, scientific studies, proceedings and papers. This archive is accessible in a reading room by appointment. An on-line catalogue is being developed. Computers and other study implements including microscopes for on-going studies and a photocopying service. A bog garden has recently been developed which has not yet been formally opened to the public. Central to this is a green house accommodating a collection of carnivorous plants. The IPCC provides an education service which is managed by the Environmental Education Officer. It includes an extensive classroom programme, which is Junior Certificate curriculum specific covering the following subjects: Art, English, Gaeilge, History, Geography and Science. Resource packs aimed at both primary and post-primary level and the modulated education programme are available to be downloaded from the website. CHARLES DUGGAN ARHITECTURAL HERITAGE ADVISOR 17
Page 1 and 2: AUDIT OF MUSEUMS AND PUBLIC COLLECT
Page 15: AUDIT OF MUSEUMS AND PUBLIC COLLECT
Page 43: AUDIT OF MUSEUMS AND PUBLIC COLLECT

1.0 INTRODUCTION Kildare County Council in association - Kildare.ie

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?