Beneath | Beofhód

'Beneath | Beofhód' explores the culture and landscape of bogs in the Irish midlands. Beofhód, an Irish word meaning ‘life beneath the sod’, evokes the primal, totemic place of bogs in Celtic culture. The project contemplates social and environmental justice alongside a topographical mapping of peatlands, and a metaphorical exploration of the pre-Christian reverence for elemental energies in the landscape. Drawing on Hynan’s authentic connection with his local community and landscape, the work traces the remnants of industrial peat harvesting which brought economic benefits and formed a strong sense of cultural identity in the region. However, urgent ecological imperatives have created tensions between the remaining small-scale harvesting of the bog and the need to protect and enhance peatland habitat and biodiversity. The work explores the de-industrialisation of the bog; where large-scale peat extraction has ceased, alongside smaller scale turf cutting by communities; still harvesting turf for domestic use. More recent explorations include resurgent landscapes where bogs are actively being restored by communities and Bord na Móna as well as the construction of new wind and solar farms on peatlands. The intention of the work is to show an ancient connection with the landscape, enabling today’s bogland to be re-imagined as both an engagement with the past, and a potent site for climate action in the present. It contemplates the transition in perceptions and use of peatlands and the subsequent social, environmental, economic and cultural impact on the midland’s region.