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Trees – (Poetry by Alfred Joyce Kilmer.)
“I think that I shall never see, a poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest, against the sweet earth’s flowing breast.
A tree that looks at God all day and lifts her leafy arms to pray.
A tree that may in summer wear, a nest of robins in her hair.
Upon whose bosom snow has lain, who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree.”
Tree Day, October 11th next, is an annual event, not just in Thurles, but on the whole island of Ireland, and is now enjoying its sixteenth year. It is one day in the primary school curriculum which is exclusively devoted to the study and direct experience of trees. All 3,200 primary schools across Ireland are encouraged to put away their school books for this day and learn about trees and the environment in general in a fun, relaxed yet stimulating setting.
 As already stated, Tree Day will be held this year in all primary schools on Thursday, 11th October 2012. The theme for this year’s Tree Day is “Dá mbeadh crainn in ann labhairt” or translated from the Irish “If trees could talk.” Keeping this theme in mind, children, with adults, parents and teachers are invited to explore the fascinating stories, the people and events of local, national and indeed world significance, that a tree growing in their locality may have experienced in its lifetime.
The aim of Tree Day is to create a visual learning experience that will enthuse and enlighten all children, by making them aware of the magic, the beauty and the importance of trees in our local environment.
Note: The event is being organised by the Tree Council of Ireland with the support of the Department of Education and Skills and is sponsored by Tetra Pak, with the support of Avonmore School Milk.
This Tree Day it is hoped that many schools will take the opportunity to participate in guided woodland walks at various locations throughout the country, enabling children to connect directly with nature in an enjoyable and safe way.
 Electrical Recycling A free electrical and battery recyling day will take place at the Mid-Tipp Mart, Cabra Road, Thurles this Saturday May 12th from 10AM – 4 PM. Any household item with a battery or plug can be dropped off at the Mart for free.
This is a great way to get rid of any old electrical items you may have lying around. Items that can be dropped off for recycling include; washing machines, televisions, radios, dryers, kettles, stereo equipment, lamps, fridges, freezers, dishwashers, toasters, coffee-makers, irons, hairdryers, handheld drills etc.
So, if you have any of the those items, or any other electrical items, cluttering up your house or shed, you can now dispose of them for free this Saturday.
 Machined Turf Cutting When I was young and restless, my mind was ill at ease,
Through dreaming of America and the gold beyond the seas.
Oh, sorrow take their money,`tis hard to find the same,
And what´s the world to any man if no one speaks his name.
I´ve had my day and here I am, a building bricks per load.
A long three thousand miles away, from the Old Bog Road.
Proinsías Barrett reminisces, taking us on a ramble down the old bog roads of Tipperary, yesterday and today.
Jimmy Deenihan buckled under the influence of the IFA, and rightly so, many might say. It is unfortunate however that the scores of other citizen reaction groups do not have the same access to an organisation as ‘influential’ as the IFA to rally to their myriad of causes.
We have all read the debates in the ‘Nationals,’ concerning turf cutting, not just as a relatively cheap fuel or source of modest income for owners of ‘bad land,’ but the debate also included submissions on the grounds that the practice of turf cutting was a social and cultural feature of rural, small town and village tradition.
I remember from my own teenage years in the 1980’s being rounded up for the day in the bog, turning, footing and heaping sods. Plots were laid out and us ‘townies,’ arriving en-masse, disembarking from Ford Cortina’s, Volkswagon Jetta’s and Datsun Sunny’s wearing their ‘bog-duds,’ (work clothes) and the women in pink and yellow marigold gloves, stooped over working a seemingly endless row of freshly cut, water sodden turf. There was a strange language associated with bog work, unique even and which only referred to the task at hand. Expressions like:- ‘There’s great dryin in it today,’ ‘She’ll have to be turned twice before you can foot her,‘ or ‘The bog would put a fierce hunger on you,‘ ‘By God there’s a breeze in the bog today and t’would skin you….‘
There was politics too, a sort of ‘bog-etiquette,‘ or ‘bog sense.‘ No-one wanted to be ‘The disgrace of the bog‘, your work and progress would be routinely (often covertly) inspected by other bog men/women under the guise of coming over to have a chat, with the introduction of ‘God bless the work,’ and if you weren’t following the un-written turf saving procedure, you might end up being the ‘Talk of the bog,’ as ‘That turf is washed away into the ground‘ or ‘If he doesn’t get that into foots soon it’ll be useless,‘ or ‘Be jaesus his heaps are awful lookin,’ ‘Who’s plot is that?… Ryan winkle a Galboola’s…. and the grass growin up through it.’ The term ‘bog standard,’ had a completely different meaning, once you entered the realm of the bog men, and once you had proved you ability to foot and save with the best of them, you might hear ‘By God that’s great lookin turf Frank, good black turf, she’ll burn well.’
Continue reading Turf Cutting In A Fast Changing Environment
 Photo: Courtesy www.upperchurch.ie The beauty of the world hath made me sad, this beauty that will pass;
Sometimes my heart hath shaken with great joy to see a leaping squirrel in a tree,
Or a red lady-bird upon a stalk, or little rabbits in a field at evening,
Lit by a slanting sun, or some green hill where shadows drifted by,
Some quiet hill where mountainy man hath sown and soon would reap; near to the gate of Heaven.
Each time I read this text I often wonder if the poet Padraic Pearse, when penning this poem “The Wayfarer,” was writing about the magnificent wild unspoilt and uncontrolled heavenly beauty, that is Upperchurch, here in Co Tipperary. (Click on image for larger resolution.)
If you have not yet been to visit Upperchurch, to experience that of which I speak, then you need to halt awhile and pay your respects to one of the last areas left in this country, which offers a real Irish welcome without the commercialism, which one now expects to find associated with Irish tourism.
Your excuse for a visit comes next Sunday, March 11th, when a walk with all participants using the Irish language, (Well, as much as possible) will be held starting from Upperchurch at 4.30p.m. This event is part of Seachtain na Gaeilge activities and will take the Eamon an Chnoic Loop over 8 km in length. (By the way, excellent weather is forecast for this area.)
Registration is free and there will be an optional meal available afterwards at a cost of €10, if booked at time of registration. There will also be traditional Irish entertainment to kick off the St. Patrick’s week festivities. All are welcome including those with little or no knowledge of the Irish language.
Tá tráthnóna pléisiúrtha sultmhar sláintiúil geallta do chách. Bígí ann. (Translated: A healthy fun enjoyable evening is guaranteed. Highly recommended.)
Other planned walking events in Upperchurch will include the Easter Sunrise walk, beginning half an hour before sunrise this Easter Sunday, April 8th and a walking and cycling fundraiser on May 6th in aid of the local section of the Beara Breifne Greenway.
Further details of these and other walking and cycling events can be obtained at www.upperchurch.ie or Phone 0504 54443 any weekday 10:00am to 2:00pm or Phone: 086 0518934 or 0504 54284 at other times.
Machined Turf Cutting The deadline for compensation for displaced turf cutters has been extended and the money being offered has doubled, after fewer than half of the 1,500 people affected by an EU directive on Special Environmental Conservation Areas, had applied to join the scheme.
Three areas affected by this EU directive here in Co. Tipperary include Ballyduff/Clonfinane Bog, latter found to be of International importance for nature conservation, Barroughter Bog situated on the shores of Lough Derg, a few kilometres east of Woodford, and Kilcarren-Firville Bog situated approximately 2 km east of the village of Carrigahorig in North Tipperary.
Yesterday, Arts and Heritage Minister Jimmy Deenihan doubled the compensation on offer for the turf cutters, thus avoiding the prospect of Ireland having to pay a €25,000 daily fine to the European Commission.
To date, less than half of the turf cutters affected have applied for State compensation nationally, which was set up last year, and approximately 63 bog owners only have been paid.
Turf cutters from 14 different counties are now being offered €2,000 in compensation this year, a once-off payment of €500 and €1,500 per year for the next 15 years. The new changes come about following pressure by the Irish Farmers Association who claim that the level of compensation being offered to turf cutters was too low. Following protests by bog owners and turf cutters in Portumna, IFA Connacht Vice President Padraic Divilly stated last July that people need to be compensated fairly if they can’t cut turf.
Mr Deenihan also extended the deadline for applications for this compensation process to the end of next month.
The compensation on offer in these identified special conservation areas is now expected to encourage bog land owners to stop cutting with immediate effect. This year alone, the enhanced compensation is expected to cost the taxpayer another €2.5million.
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