The Farrelly family were involved in the making of Gallen brick. This was taken by barge via canal to be sold in Dublin. They also sold iron ochre that is commonly referred to as "bog iron ore" to the Dublin Gas Company. A son of the guy who ran the brickworks, Kieran, developed a commercial peat business at Turraun in the 1800s, Moss peat was stripped from the surface of the bog and dried for use as horse bedding by the British Army during the Crimean War. When a flood destroyed the business in the early 1900s Kieran emigrated to America and the area was purchased by
Sir John Purser Griffith, a civil engineer, who was born in 1848 and educated at Trinity College in Dublin. He drained the land further and built a peat-operated power station. There was also a flax weaving industry in the area in the 1800s. A local newspaper, the King's County Chronicle (later Offaly Chronicle) was started at Birr in 1845. There were men building railway lines in the county ... in 1845 the rail link from Dublin was extended to Tullamore via Portarlington. A jute works was established by Goodbody at Clara in 1864.
Sources:
Lough Boora Parklands - Parklands Heritage. Milestones in Offaly History: 1830-1980. Compiled by Michael Byrne
Policies and Priorities for Ireland's Landscape - Paper 11 A Landscape Uncloaked: Lough Boora Parklands, The National Centre of Cutaway Boglands Rehabilitation in Ireland (Tom Egan, Bord na Móna)
