Bog self portrait, Carbury, County Kildare, Ireland, 2019.
Tony’s Footings, on a bog used to harvest turf for domestic use, Carbury, County Kildare, Ireland, 2018.
Tony with his turf, on a bog used to harvest turf for domestic use, Carbury, County Kildare, Ireland, 2018.
One of the last stockpile ridges of harvested peat on Ballydermot Bog, County Offaly, Ireland, 2021.
Recently rehabilitated Esker Bog with Mount Lucas windfarm in the distance, County Offaly, Ireland, 2023.
Drain on Ballydermot bog previously used to harvest peat for power generation, 2020.
Locals bringing home the turf. Shot in Summer on a community owned bog, Carbury, Co. Kildare, Ireland, 2019.
Facebank where peat has recently been extracted for turf production, Allenwood, Co. Kildare, Ireland, 2020.
Abandoned pub, Littleton, Co. Tipperary, Ireland, 2023.
Re-enactment of traditional hand won turf techniques, Ballyteague, County Kildare, Ireland, 2023.
Green Utility Box near the site of a Waste Management Facilty owned and operated by Bord na Móna, Drehid, County Kildare, Ireland, 2020.
Houses at Rochfortbridge workers’ village built in the 1950’s and designed by Frank Gibney for those who had come to the midlands to work for Bord na Móna, Co. Westmeath, Ireland, 2023.
Peat separator used to sort peat for horticultural use, Co. Kildare, Ireland, 2019.
Shower Block at Kilinthomas Turf Camp, built during World War 2, County Kildare, 2020.
Rows of unfooted turf from previous harvest at a privately owned bog, Drehid, Co. Kildare, Ireland, 2021.
Harvested peat stockpiles at a horticulture production facility, Carbury, County Kildare, Ireland, 2020.
Abandoned peat harvesting machine, Co. Kildare, Ireland, 2021.
Light industrial rail system, Gillotwn, Co. Kildare, Ireland, 2022.
Fionn aged 10, Carbury, Co. Kildare, Ireland, 2019.
Abandoned Bord na Móna tea hut, Co. Offaly, Ireland, 2022.
Diptych of harvested peat mounds at a privately owned horticulture production facility, Carbury, Co. Kildare, Ireland, 2019.
Harvested peat mound at a privately owned horticulture production facility, Co. Kildare, Ireland, 2019.
Bog Totem. Shot in Winter on privately owned bog, Ticknevin, Co. Kildare, Ireland, 2020.
Breda footing turf. Shot in Summer on a community owned bog, Carbury, Co. Kildare, Ireland, 2022.
Privately owned horticultural peat production facility. Shot in Winter, Co. Kildare, Ireland, 2020.
Josh footing turf in Carbury, Co. Kildare, Ireland, 2020.
3 generations of the Hynan family bringing home the turf. Shot in Summer on a community owned bog, Carbury, Co. Kildare, Ireland, 2022.
3 generations of the Hynan family bringing home the turf. Shot in Summer on a community owned bog, Carbury, Co. Kildare, Ireland, circa 1969. (Courtesy of Ann Kavanagh).
Facebank used for turf cutting. Shot in Winter on a privately owned bog, Co. Offaly, Ireland, 2022.
Canteen in Turf Camp built during World War 2 to counteract fuel shortages. Shot in Summer, now privately owned. Killinthomas, Co. Kildare, Ireland, 2020.
Disused community buildings at Cloontuskert workers’ village built in the 1950’s and designed by Frank Gibney for those who had come to the midlands to work for Bord na Móna, Co. Roscommon, Ireland, 2024.
Large mound of mechanically harvested turf for horticultural use. Shot in Spring at a privately owned horticulture production facility. Co. Offaly, Ireland, 2020.
Tiphead used to load articulated lorries. Shot in early Spring at a Bord na Móna horticultural peat production facility, Gilltown, Co. Kildare, Ireland, 2022.
20 Box Footings. Shot in Summer on local community and privately owned bogs, Carbury and Ticknevin, Co. Kildare, Ireland, 2021.
20 Turf Footers. Shot in Summer on local community and privately owned bogs, Carbury and Ticknevin, Co. Kildare, Ireland, 2018-2021.
Installation shot from ‘Beneath | Beofhód’ solo exhibition, Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge, 2021.
Installation shot from ‘Beneath | Beofhód’ solo exhibition, Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge, 2021.
‘Beneath | Beofhód’ (2017-2026)
Beneath | Beofhód, is a decade-long project exploring the social, cultural, and historical importance of peat bogs in the Irish Midlands.
‘Beofhód’, an Irish word meaning ‘life beneath the sod’, evokes the primal and totemic significance of bogs in Celtic tradition. This metaphorical exploration of pre-Christian reverence for elemental energies is grounded in Hynan’s commitment to exploring evolving conversations around environmental justice, and our shifting relationship to these unique landscapes.
Drawing on Hynan’s authentic connection with his local community and region, the work traces the remnants of industrial peat harvesting, which brought substantial economic benefits and helped forge a strong sense of cultural identity and purpose in the area. Since the de-industrialisation of the boglands, large-scale commercial peat extraction has ceased. Tensions have emerged between the tradition of small-scale harvesting for domestic use and the need to protect remaining peatlands.
Through these immediate concerns, Hynan reflects on the endangered status of bog habitats and the evolving perception and value of peatlands in contemporary Ireland through postcolonial and late-capitalist social lenses. Bogs in the Midlands have undergone significant alteration and a move towards ecologically aware practices, with the construction of new renewable wind and solar farms, which bring their own questions and challenges.
Beneath | Beofhód is a timely and in-depth engagement with urgent issues of landscape, tradition, and community. At a moment of ongoing challenges around the environment and sustainability, restoring our ancient connections to the land seems more vital than ever. Hynan’s long-term focus on Irish boglands creates a profound sense of respect for the complexity of these landscapes in continuous flux, layered with history.
A Photo Museum Ireland National Tour, with partners Galway International Arts Festival, Source Arts Centre, Roscommon Arts Centre, and the Regional Cultural Centre, supported by an Arts Council Touring Award. The exhibition will be accompanied by an education programme and catalogue.
Beneath | Beofhód is supported by the Arts Council of Ireland, Kildare Arts Service, Roscommon Arts Centre and the Photo Museum Ireland Artist Development Residency.
“This project stood out for Hynan’s impeccable execution, evoking a tenacious stillness in the images that effortlessly carries the weight of the work’s environmental theme. The photographs possess a monuentality that suggest a point of no return; a moment of reckoning between the past and the future, and discovery and loss. Carefully balancing the some-times-contradictory requirements of these peat lands, Hynan’s images are at once expansive and immediate, reminding of the urgency of environmental degradation and the human impact of these responsibilities.” Catherine Troiano Curator, National Photography Collections at National Trust UK in Source Graduate Photography Online 2019
“With so much of the visual language around climate change focused on aircraft in flight, snaking traffic jams, or huge factories billowing fumes into the sky, it’s interesting to see a perspective so personal and human – real people working with their hands, as generations before them have done. Shane’s work acts as both a fascinating cultural insight, and addition to the climate discussion.” Editor’s comments from The Face of the Earth Life Framer Issue 64