Lough Boora Parklands

The landscape in which the parklands is situated has an extraordinary past. Lough Boora Parklands is an emerging habitat for flora and fauna that is being formed on cutaway bog. Some of the oldest traces of human activity in Ireland date from Lough Boora. Here, in the 1970s, evidence was found of Mesolithic people, dating from about 9,000 years ago. For these hunting gatherer people this landscape was rich in sources for survival.

As time moved on, the Mesolithic culture was replaced by the Neolithic farmers who in turn were succeeded by the Bronze Age people.

The development of the bogs through 'vegetational succession' saw vast areas of the midlands covered in bogland. The past had been hidden, buried under metres of bog.

Post-industrial landscape

The post-industrial landscape of cutaway bogs that now exists in the Lough Boora Parklands is a landscape unusual in Ireland, flat land reclaimed by native scrubland, flowers, animals and birds.

Standing on a bank or on the roadway you can look across a landscape for miles. There are virtually no vertical elements in this landscape. In some ways, this landscape has returned to the vegetation and contours of the time that followed the tundra period immediately after the ice age.

More about the sculpture park...

• Background
• Landscape
• Visitor Experience
• Key Partners
• Future Developments
• Achievements