Between 1700 and the time of the Great Famine in the 1840s, Ireland’s population increased rapidly. Farmers grew food mostly for subsistence, and due to the ever decreasing availability of land, many chose to farm poor quality lands. Many farmers devised ingenious solutions to this problem such as burning peat rather that wood or coal, and creating lazy bed, a method of tillage specially adapted to poor or thin soils.  There are many derelict farm cottage dotted across the Geopark that are a reminder of this farming boom and if you look carefully the remnants of ‘lazy beds’ can often be seen in the land adjoining these cottages.