Bog Deal and Bog Deal Candles

transcribed at

Bog Deal and Bog Deal Candles  [duchas:4344670]

There is a wealth of bog deal in all the bogs to the north of Newport, Co Mayo, though nowadays it is never cut at all. The principle objection to it is that it blackens the fireplace and the kettles and the pots ad the pans too much. Black oak is also very common as is bog yew.

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The bog deal is to be found four or five or twelve feet under the bog. The lower part of the trunk and the roots remain though in some cases beams up to forty feet and more are to be found. The location of these beams can be easily detected on a morning on which there is dew as the dew lies lighter on the ground over the beams. All the trunks and beams bears the mark of fire showing that the trees must have been destroyed by burning. In times gone by there was a great amount of bog deal used.
The usual method of cutting bog deal was first locate the roots, then clear away the bog soil from round it with a spade. The whole of a root was then exposed and was cut into pieces with a bog deal ace. The pieces were thrown up on the bank where they were pulled in lumps to dry. When dry it was taken home. Oftentimes when the roots were cleared away the hole left in the bog was as big as a house. The men in those days spent a lot of times each summer cutting bog deal. 
Bog deal was much in demand for roofing houses. No other timber could begot. Beams were located in the bog, taken up, sawed

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into suitable spars. All the old thatched houses which are now quickly disappearing were all roofed with bog deal. 
Bog deal makes great fire wood. When thrown on the fire it immediately bursts into flames and blazes away with great heat for ten or fifteen minutes. 
Most of the household furniture was made out of bog deal, tables, presses, stools-forms, frames of windows doors, spoons, gates, posts, It was easy timber to work but was inclined to blacken after a time. It is told locally that when Skerdagh N. School, Newport Mayo. Roll No 3905. was being built that bog deal was used to make the foundation as the ground underneath was very soft. The land round Skerdagh belonged to Sir George Donnell Newport, Mayo. He was asked to give a site for a school in Skerdagh and the site he gave was the wettest he could find hoping that no school would then be built.
Bog deal candles were very common before lamps came into vogue. A long piece of straight bog deal stick was taken and was split into strips about half an inch wide and about 1/8 in thick. The longer the strips the better. Twenty or so of these were put together

Bog Deal and Bog Deal Candles  [duchas:4344674]

in a bundle and were kept in position with a hay sugan (rope) which was wound round them the full length of the candle. To make the candle longer extra strips could be shoved in the ends and would then be held in place by the sugan which would be continued on the length of the candle. The candle was then ready to be lighted and if it burned too freely water was put on the sugan which slowed down the flames. These candles were mostly used on dark nights when the people were going visiting If the night was wild the bottom end of the candle was held into the breeze to guard the other end. If no candle was to be had in a house when the card players collected lighted strips of bog deal were held by gasurs over the table.