Bellacorick
Encyclopedia
Bellacorick or Bellacoric is a townland
in County Mayo
, Ireland
. It comprises an area of 800 acres (3.2 km²). The area is remote, virtually uninhabited blanket bog
which was once used mainly for milled peat production. Nowadays, it is a Special Area of Conservation
because of the unique nature of the intact blanket bog habitat. The main Belmullet
to Castlebar
and Ballina
road passes through this townland.
in this area of lowland blanket bog but in the 19th century the area was leased to a Patrick Burke who housed horses in stables opposite the public house which comprises virtually all of this hamlet
. There was a shooting lodge which later became the post office, but this was later moved again to Kilsallagh and there is now no post office in Bellacorick. There used to be a Garda Station close to the Bridge but it was abandoned around 1940 and the area was policed by Crossmolina.
, designed the Bellacorick Bridge, known as the Musical Bridge, it can be 'played' in two different ways:
The bridge was difficult to erect. Because of the remarkable soundness of the earth the foundation had to be secured by timber. It has four elliptical arches each thirty feet apart, with battlements nearly 400 feet (121.9 m) long. The Erris prophet Brian Rua U'Cearbhain
referred to the then unbuilt bridge at Bellacorick in the 17th century. He said that it would never be finished and it never has been.
has been Ireland's staple fuel for centuries and still provides about 12% of the nation's energy needs. In June 1949, Michael Kilroy TD, representing Erris
, requested the government to build a 'turf fired power station for the generation of electricity in Erris. He also pointed out the advantage of reclaiming the bog and introducing a scheme of afforestation!. The ESB
acquired five and a half acres, two hundred metres from the bridge as the site for the power station
. The access road was built over the ruins of the old shooting lodge. At the same time Bord na Mona
bought 20000 acres (80.9 km²) of bogland. They harvested the turf to feed the power station. The peat was pulverised and dried in the summer. It was stored on the bog in large polythene covered piles. It was then taken to the station by railway wagons pulled by diesel locomotives.
and greenhouse gas
grounds were sad to see the chimney demolished as it had become a well-known landmark
for those returning home to Erris
.
Unfortunately, although the visually attractive chimney has been removed, the visually offensive derelict
sixties-style block buildings, several storeys in height, are still standing, ungraciously draped with green netting, as a blot on the landscape. As a result, it is difficult to get a decent view of the white windmills of the windfarm
at the site.
has been operating at Bellacorick. The wind farm comprised 21 wind turbines with a total installed capacity of 6.45 megawatts and produces enough electricity to supply 4,500 households.
The North Mayo area had long been identified as perhaps the best wind farm site in the country. All the key criteria for a successful wind farm project were satisfied at Bellacorick. The mean annual wind speed
at the site at a height of 30 metres is 7.28 m/s. The prevailing wind direction is south-westerly and the wind blows from the south west 50% of the time. The wind regime is strong, steady winds. The ground is flat with an open aspect to the prevailing winds, resulting in virtually no loss or turbulence
due to topographical features. The nearby thermal
power station
is linked to the National Electricity Grid. The Bellacorick wind farm
is owned and operated by Renewable Energy Ireland whose major shareholder is Bord na Mona
.
The environmental
benefits of the wind farm can be stated in terms of environmental impacts
avoided through not having to generate electricity
from fossil fuel
sources - coal
, peat
, oil
and gas
. Bellacorick wind farm avoids the production of 120 tonnes of sulphur dioxide, 85 tonnes of nitrous oxide
s and 20,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide
in a year.
Townland
A townland or bally is a small geographical division of land used in Ireland. The townland system is of Gaelic origin—most townlands are believed to pre-date the Norman invasion and most have names derived from the Irish language...
in County Mayo
County Mayo
County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. It comprises an area of 800 acres (3.2 km²). The area is remote, virtually uninhabited blanket bog
Blanket bog
Blanket bog or blanket mire is an area of peatland, forming where there is a climate of high rainfall and a low level of evapotranspiration, allowing peat to develop not only in wet hollows but over large expanses of undulating ground. The blanketing of the ground with a variable depth of peat...
which was once used mainly for milled peat production. Nowadays, it is a Special Area of Conservation
Special Area of Conservation
A Special Area of Conservation is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive , also known as the Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora...
because of the unique nature of the intact blanket bog habitat. The main Belmullet
Belmullet
Belmullet is a coastal Gaeltacht town with a population of around 2,000 on the Mullet Peninsula in the barony of Erris, County Mayo, Ireland. Its name means the "mouth of the mullet"...
to Castlebar
Castlebar
Castlebar is the county town of, and at the centre of, County Mayo in Ireland. It is Mayo's largest town by population. The town's population exploded in the late 1990s, increasing by one-third in just six years, though this massive growth has slowed down greatly in recent years...
and Ballina
Ballina, County Mayo
Ballina is a large town in north County Mayo in Ireland. It lies at the mouth of the River Moy near Killala Bay, in the Moy valley and Parish of Kilmoremoy, with the Ox Mountain range to the east and the Nephin Beg mountains to the west...
road passes through this townland.
History
There is virtually no arable landArable land
In geography and agriculture, arable land is land that can be used for growing crops. It includes all land under temporary crops , temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow...
in this area of lowland blanket bog but in the 19th century the area was leased to a Patrick Burke who housed horses in stables opposite the public house which comprises virtually all of this hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
. There was a shooting lodge which later became the post office, but this was later moved again to Kilsallagh and there is now no post office in Bellacorick. There used to be a Garda Station close to the Bridge but it was abandoned around 1940 and the area was policed by Crossmolina.
The Musical Bridge
In about 1820, the civil engineer, William Bald, who was mapping the area and building roads through ErrisErris
Erris is a barony in northwestern County Mayo in Ireland consisting of over , much of which is mountainous blanket bog. It has extensive sea coasts along its west and north boundaries. The main towns are Belmullet and Bangor Erris. The name Erris derives from the Irish 'Iar Ros' meaning 'western...
, designed the Bellacorick Bridge, known as the Musical Bridge, it can be 'played' in two different ways:
- The first way is by rolling a stone along the parapet on either side. As the stone drops along musical notes are produced in rapid succession.
- The second method is to hold the stone in your hand and to strike it on the slabs which form the coping of the parapet hitting each slab as you go along and drawing back the hand immediately after striking. Each slab gives forth its own peculiar note and a musical scale is produced.
The bridge was difficult to erect. Because of the remarkable soundness of the earth the foundation had to be secured by timber. It has four elliptical arches each thirty feet apart, with battlements nearly 400 feet (121.9 m) long. The Erris prophet Brian Rua U'Cearbhain
Brian Rua U'Cearbhain
- Brian Rua O’Cearbhain :Brian Rua is a well-known 17th century Errisman. He is remembered as the prophet of Erris, a large Barony in the north west of County Mayo...
referred to the then unbuilt bridge at Bellacorick in the 17th century. He said that it would never be finished and it never has been.
Peat-fired power station
PeatPeat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
has been Ireland's staple fuel for centuries and still provides about 12% of the nation's energy needs. In June 1949, Michael Kilroy TD, representing Erris
Erris
Erris is a barony in northwestern County Mayo in Ireland consisting of over , much of which is mountainous blanket bog. It has extensive sea coasts along its west and north boundaries. The main towns are Belmullet and Bangor Erris. The name Erris derives from the Irish 'Iar Ros' meaning 'western...
, requested the government to build a 'turf fired power station for the generation of electricity in Erris. He also pointed out the advantage of reclaiming the bog and introducing a scheme of afforestation!. The ESB
ESB Customer Supply
Electricity Supply Board Electric Ireland is the supply division of the Electricity Supply Board the former monopoly electricity company in Ireland. The company now operates in an open market competing for the supply of retail electricity to residential customers...
acquired five and a half acres, two hundred metres from the bridge as the site for the power station
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
. The access road was built over the ruins of the old shooting lodge. At the same time Bord na Mona
Bord na Móna
Bord na Móna , abbreviated BNM, is a semi-state company in Ireland, created in 1946 by the Turf Development Act 1946. The company is responsible for the mechanised harvesting of peat, primarily in the Midlands of Ireland...
bought 20000 acres (80.9 km²) of bogland. They harvested the turf to feed the power station. The peat was pulverised and dried in the summer. It was stored on the bog in large polythene covered piles. It was then taken to the station by railway wagons pulled by diesel locomotives.
Closure
In 2007 the massive chimney at Bellacorick was demolished for safety reasons. Even those who would have been opposed to the fossil-fuel burning power station on environmentalEnvironmental policy
Environmental policy is any [course of] action deliberately taken [or not taken] to manage human activities with a view to prevent, reduce, or mitigate harmful effects on nature and natural resources, and ensuring that man-made changes to the environment do not have harmful effects on...
and greenhouse gas
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
grounds were sad to see the chimney demolished as it had become a well-known landmark
Landmark
This is a list of landmarks around the world.Landmarks may be split into two categories - natural phenomena and man-made features, like buildings, bridges, statues, public squares and so forth...
for those returning home to Erris
Erris
Erris is a barony in northwestern County Mayo in Ireland consisting of over , much of which is mountainous blanket bog. It has extensive sea coasts along its west and north boundaries. The main towns are Belmullet and Bangor Erris. The name Erris derives from the Irish 'Iar Ros' meaning 'western...
.
Unfortunately, although the visually attractive chimney has been removed, the visually offensive derelict
Abandonment
The term abandonment has a multitude of uses, legal and extra-legal. This "signpost article" provides a guide to the various legal and quasi-legal uses of the word and includes links to articles that deal with each of the distinct concepts at greater length...
sixties-style block buildings, several storeys in height, are still standing, ungraciously draped with green netting, as a blot on the landscape. As a result, it is difficult to get a decent view of the white windmills of the windfarm
WindFarm
WindFarm is wind energy software used to analyse, design, optimise and visualise wind farms. It calculates and optimises the energy yield subject to natural, planning and engineering constraints. WindFarm has the wind modelling software MS-Micro integrated. MS-Micro is based on the same...
at the site.
Wind farm
Since 1992 Ireland's first commercial wind farmWind farm
A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...
has been operating at Bellacorick. The wind farm comprised 21 wind turbines with a total installed capacity of 6.45 megawatts and produces enough electricity to supply 4,500 households.
The North Mayo area had long been identified as perhaps the best wind farm site in the country. All the key criteria for a successful wind farm project were satisfied at Bellacorick. The mean annual wind speed
Wind speed
Wind speed, or wind velocity, is a fundamental atmospheric rate.Wind speed affects weather forecasting, aircraft and maritime operations, construction projects, growth and metabolism rate of many plant species, and countless other implications....
at the site at a height of 30 metres is 7.28 m/s. The prevailing wind direction is south-westerly and the wind blows from the south west 50% of the time. The wind regime is strong, steady winds. The ground is flat with an open aspect to the prevailing winds, resulting in virtually no loss or turbulence
Turbulence
In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is a flow regime characterized by chaotic and stochastic property changes. This includes low momentum diffusion, high momentum convection, and rapid variation of pressure and velocity in space and time...
due to topographical features. The nearby thermal
Thermal
A thermal column is a column of rising air in the lower altitudes of the Earth's atmosphere. Thermals are created by the uneven heating of the Earth's surface from solar radiation, and are an example of convection. The sun warms the ground, which in turn warms the air directly above it...
power station
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
is linked to the National Electricity Grid. The Bellacorick wind farm
Wind farm
A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...
is owned and operated by Renewable Energy Ireland whose major shareholder is Bord na Mona
Bord na Móna
Bord na Móna , abbreviated BNM, is a semi-state company in Ireland, created in 1946 by the Turf Development Act 1946. The company is responsible for the mechanised harvesting of peat, primarily in the Midlands of Ireland...
.
The environmental
Environment (systems)
In science and engineering, a system is the part of the universe that is being studied, while the environment is the remainder of the universe that lies outside the boundaries of the system. It is also known as the surroundings, and in thermodynamics, as the reservoir...
benefits of the wind farm can be stated in terms of environmental impacts
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
avoided through not having to generate electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
from fossil fuel
Fossil fuel
Fossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years...
sources - coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
, peat
Peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
, oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
and gas
Gas
Gas is one of the three classical states of matter . Near absolute zero, a substance exists as a solid. As heat is added to this substance it melts into a liquid at its melting point , boils into a gas at its boiling point, and if heated high enough would enter a plasma state in which the electrons...
. Bellacorick wind farm avoids the production of 120 tonnes of sulphur dioxide, 85 tonnes of nitrous oxide
Nitrous oxide
Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas or sweet air, is a chemical compound with the formula . It is an oxide of nitrogen. At room temperature, it is a colorless non-flammable gas, with a slightly sweet odor and taste. It is used in surgery and dentistry for its anesthetic and analgesic...
s and 20,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
in a year.