A large group of local people gathered in 2021 in the shadow of the historic St Manchan’s in Lemanaghan to protest at plans by Bord na Móna to build a wind farm in Lemanaghan bogLemanaghan bog heritage group hits out at 'misleading' descriptionOpponents of a plan to build a wind farm on the historic landscape of Lemanaghan Bog in West Offaly have described as “misleading” their characterisation as a “small opposition group” by proposers of the project. The remarks were made in January 2025 at a meeting between the joint developers of the major energy project, Bord na Móna and SSE Renewables, and officials from An Coimisiún Pleanála. The project has since been designated as a Strategic Infrastructure Prohect (SID) which allows it to bypass the Offaly County Council planning process and proceed directly to the State planning board. Responding to the remarks about their campaign of opposition to the proposed wind farm project, the members of the Lemanaghan Bog Heritage and Conservation Group pointed to the fact that “over 2,000 submissions” were made to Offaly County Council calling for the removal of the zoning of Lemanaghan Bog as an area open to consideration for wind energy. The Lemanaghan Bog Heritage and Conservation Group, which has spearheaded a vigorous campaign of opposition to plans for the construction of a wind farm on the historic bog, claims that, for many people in the local commmunity, Lemanaghan is “not simply a tract of bogland” but as a“sacred historic landscape, containing over a thousand years of history, tradition, and archaeology.

Source: Irish Independent March 20, 2026 16:20 UTC