Brown Gold - A History of Bord na Móna and the Irish Peat Industry 2010

Author: Donal Clarke

Gill & Macmillan Ltd, Dublin
Bord na Móna 2010

ISBN 978 07171 4753 3 (hard cover)
417 pages

Bord na Móna, established in 1934, began as the final manifestation of an idea which surfaced in the seventeenth century – that the vast peatlands of Ireland could be developed for the economic benefit of the people. It is now a relatively small company developing a range of businesses based on the engineering and scientific skills it has built up over 75 years. It owns 80,000 ha of peatland, employs approximately 1,800 people and operates out of 30 localities mainly in Ireland, but also in the United Kingdom and eastern United States. It has a turnover of nearly €296 million.
This book is the story of how a crusade became a commercial enterprise. It is the result of extensive research into the company’s archives and is a fascinating insight into one of Ireland’s best known companies.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the employees of the Turf Development Board and Bord na Móna who sustained the organisations through the years, some of which were difficult and none of which were easy. I would also like to remember my father, the late Dan Clarke, who tried hard to keep going until this book was finished.

Contents

Note
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Precursors of Bord na Móna
The Turf Development Board Ltd
The War Years
The First Development Programme
Other Post-war Developments
The Second Development Programme
The West
The Lawlor Years – The Energy Businesses
The Lawlor Years – Other Developments
The Third Development Programme and the Problems of the 1970s
MacEvilly and the Challenges of the 1980s
Change or Die
O’Connor’s Second Term of Office
Paddy Hughes’s Term of Office
Recent Years

Appendix 1
Biographies of Some Personalities Involved in the Development of Peat in Ireland

Appendix 2
Ministers with Responsibility for the Turf Development Board and Bord na Móna

References
Glossary of Terms and Acronyms
Sources
Index