The tranquil scenery of the Bog Road with the backdrop of the Twelve Bens is a true spectacle. Driving or cycling, take the R341 towards Ballyconneely, turn left at Ballinaboy before the bridge and you will discover the famous Roundstone Bog conservation area.
Upland Blanket Bog dominates the landscape of much of Connemara, spreading to the very summits of the Twelve Bens and Maumturk mountains. The hands of Neolithic and Bronze Age farmers helped to form the bogs, which give to Connemara its particular form of beauty, especially in the autumn when the heather is in bloom and the purple moor grass turns golden.
The Blanket Bogs are, in a very real sense, are Ireland’s rainforests. They not only absorb water and release it slowly throughout the year, in the process feeding streams for spawning countless salmon and trout, but also contain a multitude of rare and fascinating species of wildlife. These include several intriguing species of carnivorous plants. There is still a vast amount to learn about the complexity of the bogs and their role in maintaining the local ecology
2nd and 3rd paragraphs courtesy of archaeologist Michael Gibbons.
Drosera Intermedia – Oblong-leaved Sundew