On Monday, the 13th of October 2025, partners from UCD and ERINN Innovation visited Christine Mackey, WaterLANDS artist-in-residence at the Irish Action Site (AS) at the Bencroy blanket bog restoration site, which forms part of the Irish AS Cuilcagh-Anierin Uplands Special Area of Conservation (SAC) in Leitrim.
The Bencroy site, defined by a mountainous landscape which previously hosted a coalmine, has been damaged by years of erosion due to weather exposure, fires and climate change. The fog on the day of the field visit added to the otherworldliness of the landscape; mossy, green peat hags were interspersed with “bare peat areas” - areas where the protective vegetation layer had been lost, exposing the peat soil.
Bare peat is a common issue, particularly in the uplands, as a consequence of several natural and man-made pressures, including overgrazing and fires. In many areas, bare peat is now mainly eroded by natural agents such as wind, ice or water. These bare peat areas act as sources of CO2 emissions and are accompanied with habitat loss.
As part of the WaterLANDS project, restoration of the Bencroy site is underway with the help of local farmers, who are deploying coir rolls and geotextile blankets, both made from coconut fibres, across the vast site. These are used respectively as dams to retain water and to encourage vegetation growth. The Irish Action Site Lead Wild Atlantic Nature has developed a restoration toolkit for this purpose, available here.
The field trip to the Bencroy site was followed by a warm cup of tea and an informal chat with Christine. As an independent research-based visual artist from the area, she is interested in complex environmental issues. Christine's work is meticulously researched and interdisciplinary in scope, and pursues a narrative structure based on an assemblage of key research material, sites of interest, and community integration.
As part of her research for WaterLANDS, she has been studying the Bencroy site and other sites in the area for the last two years and is particularly interested in the materials used in the restoration process, such as coir rolls and geotextile blankets, as well as the microscopic life within peat soil. She is one of seven artists in residence with the WaterLANDS project, responding to the restoration activities across a four year period.
Learn more about Christine’s work as part of WaterLANDS here.
