My better half is doing a landscape study of West Cork, detailing its creation since the ice age. The first part of that study was to determine whether he had enough information to work with at the potential location of Three Lakes, in West Cork. The middle lake cannot be seen in this image, but lies within the parcel of trees in the dip. With the permission of the landowner, we went and took a core through the peat to a depth of six metres, and three specific samples were sent for radio carbon dating. The results were fantastic, indicating that the lower end of the core was, indeed, clay deposit from just after the end of the ice age, and our core covers around twelve thousand years of deposition.
(Click here to visit WestCorkPalaeo.com)
The Three Lakes area is thought to be an ice-gouged depression, with an outlet through what was a glacial meltwater channel, and the surrounding peat bogs have made the land unusable for farming, meaning it has remained a fairly wild and uncultivated and area.
It harbours a diversity of growth, including many kinds of grass and rush, and in the summer, an abundance of wild flowers. The coring took place in July, 2018.
The corer consists of a handle, and one-metre lengths of steel which are added as the coring progresses. This is a gouge corer, for investigating sediment at depth, prior to proper coring that will extract a series of ‘tubes’ of sediment.
It’s hard work, and pressure has to be maintained in a clockwise fashion. The joins are simple push and twist catches, and if the corer were to be twisted the wrong way, the lengths of steel might unclip, and remain in the bog for another ten thousand years…
The core samples showed clear remains of various types of vegetation. The lighter areas are pieces of wood, preserved over thousands of years because of the acidity of the bog.
The ground underfoot is fairly spongy, and we both get exceedingly dirty! I am taking the cores each time, and carefully wrapping them in cling film to preserve their integrity. Later, measured pieces will be removed and analysed more closely under the microscope for pollen, spores and other climate indicators.
I have to mention Robin’s tee-shirt, which portrays the bull out of the Tain, and an army of Queen Maeve’s soldiers, presumably. This is one of the old tales scribed by monks, which survived Viking raids since the early mediaeval period, and are thought to be derived from a much earlier date. My story, Echet the Dirty, is a rewrite of one of these tales.
Here, Robin is explaining the process to Finola Finlay, who co-authors the magical Roaring Water Bay Journal with her husband, Robert Harris. If you click on the link, you will find a map of West Cork. The Three Lakes area lies between Dunmanway and Drimoleague, inland and to the east of Bantry
Here you can gauge the size of the reeds that surround the lake. Robin is standing on the floating vegetation mat which surrounds the lake and extends out over the water by quite a few metres. It moves underfoot, as one would expect, and the nearer one gets to the water, the greater the possibility of slipping through.
And some of the abundant summer flowers: Meadowsweet
Bog Asphodel
Bull Thissle
Marsh Bedstraw
Bog Cotton and Pink Ling
Rosebay Willowherb
