Michael T Shue Studios Wood Blog: Celtic Irish Bog Oak

Scientific Name: Quercus Robur

Common Names: Celtic Irish Bog Oak (also known as Bog Oak, Irish Bog Oak, Irish Ebony and Morta)

Bog Oak piece cut and sanded. Showing the rays and flecks. The heart of the tree was toward the top of the pic.

Some 5000 years ago the landscape of the world was much different than it is today.

The Mesopotamians introduced the Shekel as a form of currency and weight.

The Sumarians first established cities and began working with various metals.

The Chinese developed the potter's wheel.

The Minoan civilization was just taking root on Crete.

The Ancient city of Troy was founded in Turkey.

The Namer Palette was made in Egypt, some of the earliest hieroglyphics.

Caral, the earliest known settlement in the Americas, was built in Peru.

The total population of the world was 30 million. (There are over 35 million in California alone today)

The first incarnation of Stonehenge was constructed in England. The massive Sarsen stones would not be in place for another 500 years.

Log section in the rough.

And a Brown Oak tree fell over in a bog in Ireland.

The tree would be covered with layers of peat. The lack of oxygen in the waterlogged peat prevented the decay of the wood, preserving it for millennia. During that time the Tannins in the wood would have a chemical reaction with soluble iron in the water to stain the wood a dark, nearly black, color. In fact, for many years this Celtic Irish Bog Oak was used as a substitute for other black woods such as Ebony.

That tree, like many of the things listed above, would lie waiting to be rediscovered for thousands of years.

Farmers excavating a Bog Oak from the Peat Turf in Ireland.

I find myself constantly amazed that I have the opportunity to work with a material with such a deep history. Did Merlin rest under this Celtic Irish Bog Oak, a piece of which is in my hand, when he accompanied Arthur Pendragon and 1500 knights to Ireland on a quest to relocate the Megalithic Sarsen Stones of Stonehenge to their current resting place in England? Or was this the Celtic Irish Bog Oak that cast shade on a Pictish lass as she gathered berries in the woods? Might be that this is the Celtic Irish Bog Oak that a Druid collected acorns from for his evening meal? Who can say, but suffice it to say that this wood IS history.

Unlike the things listed above, that tree can be welcomed into your home today as a piece of art. A piece of history. A piece of Ireland.

After much research on the net and many emails, I now have a supply of this wonderful wood in my shop.