Facts About Bog Butter

Bog Butter is frequently found in Irish bogs, and discoveries usually attract much interest.
The custom of burying butter in bogs seems to have been known in early times, possibly as early as the sixth century A.D. An account of Irish food written by Dinely in 1681 contains the following description 'Butter, layed up in wicker baskets, mixed with a sort of garlic and buried for some time in a bog to make a provision of an high taste for Lent'.

This suggests one of the reasons for burial of butter, that it was a special type of butter made for a certain season of the year. The storage over a period would be necessary to allow the added flavour to penetrate the fat and flavour the butter evenly. Burial in a bog would ensure protection from daytime heat and keep the butter as cool as possible, while the exclusion of air, and the antiseptic qualities of the turf would prevent mould growth.

Children from Barnderg National School test the 300 year old lump of bog butter found by turf cutters at Poll na gCapaill Bog, Co Galway in May 1999. The butter was in a wicker basket, and although not edible it smelled and looked like very cold, hard, butter. Photograph: Ray Ryan. .
Although the practice may have originated with a desire to produce a special flavour in the butter, butter may have been buried for other reasons. As many superstitions were connected with butter making, it is possible that butter was buried for animals. It could also have been associated with the formerly widespread Booleying System, whereby cattle and sheep were driven to upland pastures for the Summer months. The practice may have also been adopted for reasons of security. A widespread weapon of war was the destruction of all foodstuffs, thereby causing famine. This policy was carried out by the English forces in Tudor and Stuart times. In these cases the discovery of bog butter could indicate the sudden destruction or flight of the people who stored it.

The depth at which bog butter is found is not much use for dating purposes, as the butter was not deposited on the surface of the bog, but in a hole dug in the peat. However the containers in which the butter was buried can be used to date the burial. These containers have been made of a variety of materials, including wood, bark, cloth, wicker work and animal skins. The wooden vessels are sometimes carved out of a solid piece of wood, with a detachable lid or handle. Sometimes the base is a separate piece, cleverly inserted. Some vessels are made of stayes. Highly decorated wooden containers have been found indicating how highly prized they were.

The practice of burying butter in bogs was not confined to Ireland, as examples have been found in Scotland.

It is probable that the practice of burying butter in bogs died out in the early 19th century. However, examples continue to be found, often in extremely good condition considering their age. On one occasion bog butter was good enough to be sold on the open market, apparently as edible material.
Information courtesy of the National Museum of Ireland.

WHO NEEDS A FRIDGE FOR BUTTER WHEN THERE'S A BOG NEARBY
Turf Cutters churn up a taste of the past,
though it's well beyond its sell-by date
Article from The Examiner, 20 May 1999 by Declan Varley
A group of schoolchildren have volunteered to be the custodians of a five stone lump of butter, buried on a bog over 3000 years ago.
The butter was discovered yesterday in the Poll na gCapaill bog near Barnaderg in Co. Galway by turf cutters Tom Burke and Vincent Roche. According to one historian, it was traditional for butter to be stored in the bogs because of the great preservative qualities of the high acid soil.
Now the find, the largest of it's kind in the West, is to be preserved by the local schoolchildren, for a few months until it starts to melt.
Yesterday, the school children, from Barnaderg national school, were brought along by principal Sylvester Cassidy for a look at the largest lump of butter they had ever seen and they jokingly brought along a sliced pan in the hope that some of it could still be used.
"The men who found it have given it to us and we are going to get it examined to determine its exact age," said Mr. Cassidy.
"It was in a wicker basket and an outer layer of bark was placed around it by the people who put it there. We will probably bring it to the school for a while. "It will be a novelty, but eventually it will start to melt and smell so it will have to be thrown out then," said Mr. Cassidy.
He said the butter was not edible but still retained its buttery smell and texture and was extremely cool and hard.


'LONG LIFE' BUTTER FOUND IN BOG
Article from The Longford News, 14 May 1987 by Simon Cumbers
Throughout the years, literally hundreds of things have been found in the bogs around Ireland; everything from bodies to booty. The latest addition to the list was found in the bog just beyond Ballinamuck, Co. Tipperary.
While out cutting turf last week. Paddy Cassidy and his young son Jim came across what they thought was a chunk of clay buried in the bank. However on closer examination they discovered a great lump of butter weighing several pounds.
Except for a hard crust formed on its surface, the butter appears to be in a near perfect condition, and with no sign of the container in which it was undoubtedly buried. Paddy reckons that it could have been in the bog for hundreds of years.
Despite working the bog for many years, this is the first thing that Paddy has ever found, and while he waits for experts to come and analyse the butter, he has wisely returned the butter to its hiding place so that it may remain 'fresh'.

HELEN LUCY BURKE SAMPLES THE 1,400 - YEAR - OLD CHEESE
It Tastes Rancid - Even Athlete's Footy
Article from The Sunday Tribune, 23 August 1987
The 1,400-year-old cheese found in a Tipperary bog tastes more than mature-it tastes rancid. And how did I come to taste it? It happened like this. The huge piece of cheese weighing more than a hundredweight, had been taken to a resting-place for old cheeses in the Roscrea Heritage Centre, where it reposes in mossy majesty on a plinth. It is like a huge bounder, greyish-white with lichenous patches, grooved here and there, not just what you would get on the average cheeseboard.
Close up, the boulder smelled cheesy, ripe, even athlete's footy. An inviting piece had crumbled off and lay at the base. I palmed the fragment, and at a suitable moment popped it in my mouth, rolling it on my tastebuds. The flavour was definitely cheesy, and though unpleasing, not revolting either. The texture was oddly granular. It came closest to a Wensleydale cheese which had dried out: Wensleydales are only tolerably fresh.

But even fresh I do not think it would ever have won a Dairy Council Award, and today you could give it a prize for ripeness but for nothing else. The aftertaste - which is as important in cheese as in wine - was a sourish cloying sensation hanging about my soft palate. In fairness, as the piece which fell off had been an outside piece, the aftertaste may have come from the bog in which it was buried, or from the covering. It is definitely the oldest food I have ever consciously eaten.

The curator of the Roscrea Heritage Centre, Tony Candon - who was not a party to my minor scavenging - is not as certain of the object's history as reports suggest. He informed me that it might be butter, not cheese: it might be 1,000 years old, not 1,400: and the most interesting archaeological feature was not the butter/cheese itself but the wrappings. When found by turf cutters it was wrapped in the scraped-out stomach of a bullock or pig.

A wickerwork carrying-handle obviously served to carry it home from the local ancient Irish supermarket. Tony hopes to take a core sample which may clear up doubts as to the exact century of manufacture. At present the dating is calculated from the rate of growth of the undisturbed bog over it. The test may also show if the boulder was designed to make the biggest cheese-dip ever, or was merely some butter laid aside for Christmas cakes.