Scohaboy Bog SAC is located off the Old Birr Road (R491) to the north of Cloughjordan Village in Co. It is a place familiar to many local people as generations had turbary rights to cut turf there. The site is approx 450ha and comprises a relatively large raised bog that includes both areas of high bog and cutover. The site is bounded by agricultural land on three sides and by the woodland plantation of Sopwell on the Northern side. The Cloughjordan Community Development Committee are the community partners in the raised bog restoration programme at Scohaboy which to date has seen two significant restoration projects take place. The first was in 2013 on 80 Ha with Coillte Forest and the NPWS where Scohaboy was a National Demonstration Site in the “Demonstrating Best Practice in Raised Bog Restoration in Ireland” (LIFE09 NAT/IE/000222) programme. As part of of the project, a 400 mtr boardwalk and viewing platform was installed to allow for safe visitor access. In 2019, an 800 mtr boardwalk extension was added in order to link with old bog road and create a new 5.7 kms national looped walking trail - The Loop of Laghile and Loughaun. A second restoration project on 100 Ha in 2020 with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the NPWS took place as part of the The National Raised Bog Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) Management Plan 2017 - 2022. This project saw the installation of 2000 peat dams, 4kms of Contour Bunding and 2kms of Cell Bunding. With these works, Scohaboy will play a key role in the Irish Governments response to the United Nations Decade of Ecosystem Restoration 2021 - 2030. Today Scohaboy Bog is recognised as one of the most successful community supported conservation and climate action efforts of it`s kind in Ireland, winning a number of national awards for the community and demonstrating successful agency and community collaboration in the conservation and restoration of this increasingly endangered and rare habitat. Scohaboy forms part of the Community Wetlands Forum and is the second local project the local development committee have undertaken with Coillte Forest, the Knockanacree Community Woodland Trails Programme being the other. Awards.
2013 Gold Medal: UN International Livable Communities (LivCom) Award - CCDC
2014 Winner of Notice Nature National Biodiversity Award - Tidy Towns Group
2014 Winner of Eco Initiative Category: Pride Of Place Competition - CCDC
2016 Runners Up in National Get Involved Competition - CCDC
2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage Mark - CCDC
2020 National Demonstration site for UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration 2021 - 2030. Despite their reduced size, Irish Midland raised bogs, such as Scohaboy, still retain an air of wilderness. They provide important habitat for a range of mammals (e.g. Red Grouse , Curlew and Snipe). There is a growing realisation that Ireland’s raised bog ecosystems are unique and irreplaceable. The Scohaboy project represents an important international contribution towards the conservation of this precious resource. Sites like Scohaboy represent some of the last remnants of this habitat still in existence in the Atlantic region of the EU and as such, they are sites of European and international importance. Scohaboy Bog, is an important local natural heritage asset. A boardwalk and viewing platform offer safe access, a bench seat offers the chance to to linger there a while in the space and quietness. It`s a place where on a warm summer months evening, the Fuiseog (Lark) fills the air with it`s melodious song of high summer. See also : http://www.coillteoutdoors.ie for route map and site information on Scohaboy Bog and Sopwell Woodlands.
