History of peat briquettes

kildarejohn

I wonder has anyone come across a history of Peat Briquettes online or in print? I can find numerous online articles, but these are mainly either engineering descritpions of the process, or accounts of closures of particular plants. Could find nothing like a comprehensive history covering technical aspects, social aspects, commercial aspects etc. Anyone out there going to write one?

donaghs

Looks like it’s a potential thesis, waiting to be turned into a book!

Lots of Irish articles mentioning Irelands role in this. Bord na mona site says first known Irish briquette attempts took place in 1855.

https://www.bordnamonalivinghistory.ie/article-detail/brief-history-of-the-peat-industry-in-ireland/#:~:text=3.-,Briquettes,in%201906%20(Ryan%201908).

But this article says the mechanical creation of briquettes from various materials (peat, lignite, etc) goes back to the 19th century, mentions various countries, but not Ireland. Maybe just an oversight

https://www.fao.org/3/T0275E/T0275E03.htm#:~:text=History%20of%20briquetting,part%20of%20the%2019th%20century.

In CS (Todd) Andrews book “man of no property” he mentions working for the Irish Turf Development Board and travelling to Germany and the Soviet Union (a rare thing) in the 1930s to investigate their turf industries. Essentially to turn what was considered useless bogland into a useful industry.