Corstown Bridge Bog is made up of 3 plots of approximately 11.5 acres of cutover bog and woodland in Corstown Bog (one of the six raised bog domes and that made up the Great Bog of Ardee) straddling the border of both Meath and Louth.
Friends of Ardee Bog were delighted to welcome the new owners, Sophie and Martin to our group in 2023, and to be part of their journey in conserving and restoring the site. Sophie and Martin were interested in taking on a nature restoration project and acquired the site in stages when they realised it’s potential. They acquired the site in three stages.
Since early 2024 Sophie and Martin have been documenting the biodiversity on the site and working with GIS mapping to collect, record and archive information about the site. The Corstown Bridge site is teaming with biodiversity and life.
The woodland supports a variety of woodland bird species including Cuckoo and Long Eared Owls. The site is also home to numerous bog pools which are teeming with amphibians, dragon fly and insects of all kinds. Lizards have also been spotted on the site.
This ecological assessment was carried out by Dr. Catherine O’Connell in June 2024 and is the first key step in a long term plan that will involve further assessment of the site (including hydrological and lidar surveys), as well as enacting Dr.Connell’s recommendations for the site.
Friends of Ardee Bog would like to acknowledge and thank the Heritage Council for their generous support, without which we would not begin to start this ambitious project.
The first plot they acquired was 7.36 acres of overgrown bog woodland which has not been used for turf-cutting about 30 years. The second plot, is a 2.33. strip adjacent to the woodland which has not been cut in recent years. The third plot of almost 2 acres has been cut for turf as recently as 2023.
Sophie and Martin’s plan is to draw up a plan for conservation and restoration based on expert advice and best practice. In early 2024 Friends of Ardee Bog were delighted to receive a community heritage grant from the Heritage Council. The aim of this scheme is to support projects that apply good heritage practice to the management of places, collections, habitats and species, objects (including buildings and monuments) or intangible heritage. Our aim was to use this funding to support a baseline ecological assessment of the site.