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- Bog
Oak is a form of timber unique to the ancient peat bogs of Ireland. The unique acidic
conditions of the peat bog helped preserve giant trees that formed the great oak forests
which covered the island thousands of years ago. The bogs themselves formed as rotting
vegetation collected in swamps where it was broken down by micro-organisms. Timber that
happened to fall into the swamps sank slowly and was gradually buried beneath semi-solid
layers of peat. The low pH levels acted as a preservative, effectively pickling the wood
and preventing it from rotting. As the bogs have been reclaimed for agriculture or
exploited for fuel in recent times huge trees have been thrown up. These trees,
miraculously preserved, emerge blinking into the sunlight after thousands of years of
slumber. If a piece of bog oak has had the time and special conditions necessary for its
preservation it attains a jet black hue akin to ebony.
Think of bog woods as fossils, once-living organisms that spread their branches over the earth over 4000 years ago while our ancestors had yet to discover metal tools. Some of the wood used by the Studio has been carbon-dated, such as the spectacular bog-pine root system now the centerpiece of the chapel in St. Patrick’s Seminary, Thurles, Co. Tipperary which was shown to be over 4,000 years old.
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Fergus Costello Studios
Cloughjordan
Co.Tipperary
Rep. Of Ireland
Europe