Holiday offers in Ireland for 2013, chauffeurdriven/ personal car and driver/guide.

A peat bog in the mountains of Connemara.  

The peat is cut annually in late Spring or early Summer, depending on the weather, as ideally you need dry weather to allow the peat to dry out before taking in into storage for the Winter fires. In this picture you can see the freshly cut peat heaped above the face of the bank of the bog, and already some of it has been covered in black plastic to keep it from getting wet again. There are still many people in rural areas who love their peat fires, and many of the stoves and old iron ranges (ovens) still continue to use peat. There is pleasant aroma off the burning peat and it does make a lovely fire...not as hot as coal, but still adequate. Due to the fact that peat is not quiet as dense as coal, it burns faster and therefore you do need to store a decent amount of it to last the Winter.

Speaking of Winter, now that our clocks have gone back here, the changes are noticeable already. Yesterday was very wet and wintry, eventhough today was much better. The week ahead is a mixed bag with a good deal of rain and wind being forecast. Tonight here in Ireland we are all keeping our fingers crossed for you as that dreadful storm Sandy threatens your East coast. You are in our prayers. I have many friends who have traveled with me, living all along your eastern seaboard, and indeed, two sons living in New York with their families, so we are very much aware of what is happening. When i hear anybody complaining about our Irish weather i am always quick to point out to them just how lucky we are here as we never get the extremes that many countries have to experience. We get a good deal of rain but compared to what we could be getting that is a walk in the park. 
God keep you all safe and well.