To a small extent reclamation is now going on in Ireland; Mr M’Nab, of Castle Connell, county Limerick, has reclaimed 80 acres of the worst red bog, devoid of vegetation and 20 feet deep. It was drained, then coated with the subsoil, and the land which was not worth 2s 6d per acre is now worth 30s per acre.
Thus Robert Montgomery Martin in his Ireland before and after the Union with Great Britain third edition with additions; J D Nichols and Son, London; James McGlashen, Dublin 1848.
I have written here about Mr Macnab (that was how the spelling settled down) and his talent for extracting money from the bog at Portcrusha, which is between Castleconnell and Montpelier, Co Limerick. It seems that his achievements are still remembered — and emulated.
Incidentally, in the same work, published in 1848, Mr Martin refers to the
… large practical mind, great experience, and Christian philosophy …
Irish waterways history 
In your McNab article, your reference to John McNab emigrating to Canada appears to be to the same John McNab remembered by this headstone:
I am researching this branch of the McNab family, which began its Canadian years with the sudden death of John and his wife in a cholera epidemic, but their five children were well cared for by prominent local citizens and went on to live prosperous lives. Their marriage and death notices always associated them with Mona Lodge.
The inscription on the 1832 headstone for John and Ellen is difficult to read and an inaccurate transcription is as follows:
Sacred to the memory of John McNab, Esq., eldest son of the late James McNab, Esq., of Hansy, Scotland, who died at his residence near this place, July 31, 1832, aged 42 years / In memory of Ellen, wife of the above, daughter of the late John O. Den, Esq., of the city of Limerick, Ireland, and niece of the late Reverend D. Kennedy, County Clare, Ireland, who died August 3rd, 1832, aged 32 years
Any help in correcting names of places and family members identified in the inscription would be greatly appreciated.
I’ve responded on the John’s Canal page here. bjg