The palaeoecology of Clara Bog, Co. Offaly

Abstract

This thesis contains the results of an investigation into the palaeoecology of a midlands raised bog, Clara Bog, Co. Offaly. It was undertaken to investigate the development of the bog and some of its features. The thesis is written in three parts, the first introduces the project and the methods used. The second part concerns the development of the bog itself; the third part reviews Irish Holocene archaeology and vegetation history, to provide a context to the investigation of the regional vegetation development that follows. The first part of the thesis concentrated on two aspects of the development of Clara Bog: the genesis and history of the soak features on the bog, particularly the birchwood and Lough Roe, and the development of the bog itself. The second part of the thesis investigated the development of the regional vegetation through investigation of two sites: the bog itself, and a small lake basin on the esker ridge to the north of the bog.