Page 30 - royal-times-17-18

Form 3

Geography Trip JUNIOR CERTIFICATE PROJECTS

In December, our class headed off to the Midlands for
our annual field trip. Our first destination was Mount
Lucas Wind Farm outside the village of Rhode, Co. Offaly.
We had no problem finding the wind farm as it was easy
to spot the tall wind turbines over the flat raised bogs.
We were given a guided tour and talk by a member of
staff. It is an 84 mega watt wind farm developed on
cutaway bog with 28 Siemens wind turbines which
were installed in 2014. As well as providing clean,
renewable energy - plans are underway to develop the
tourist potential of the area with walkways and natural
habitats. Bord Na Mona run the wind farm as well as the
local peat burning station which we could see in the
distance.
Next, we headed to Tullamore and visited the Tullamore
Dew Whiskey Museum. We were told the distillery is on
a new site outside Tullamore, very close to where the
Ploughing Championship is held. The World Famous
Tullamore Dew was first distilled in 1829 and was named
after its creator Daniel E. Williams (D.E.W). We learnt that
it was triple distilled and triple blended to give it its
unique flavour. We saw the types of maize and malted
barley used and all the processes were explained.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable day out and thanks to
our teachers Mr. Plunkett and Ms. Argue for organising
the successful trip. Hopefully what we learnt might help
us in our upcoming Junior Cert!!

30 The Royal Times 2017-2018