A trip to Co. Clare for some dry stone walling with the DSWAI

An old section of dry stone wall in The Burren

Last weekend the DSWAI had a meet up in County Clare as we were invited by quarry owner David O' Connor of Liscannor Flagstones Quarries to come build some stone features at his quarry in Miltown Malbay.
Despite the long drive, I was looking forward to the trip, as it would give me the chance to take the scenic route through The Burren landscape, a stunning part of the country I have not been to in many years.

The Burren Landscape

The Burren is a karst-landscape region or alvar, measuring approximately 250 square kilometres. It is one of the largest karst landscapes in Europe. 

The word "Burren" comes from an Irish word "Boíreann" meaning a rocky place. This is an extremely appropriate name when you consider the lack of soil cover and the extent of exposed limestone pavement also known as a karst-landscape. However it has also been referred to in the past as "Fertile rock" due to the mixture of nutrient rich herb and floral species that flourish in the limestones cracks known as 'grikes'. There are in fact there are more than 650 different flowers, plants, and ferns to be found in this unique area of karst limestone, from Spotted Orchids to Spring Gentians, from Mountain Avens to Purple Orchids.

There is an annual festival called 'The Burren in Bloom' which takes place from the 4th of May till the 1st of June. Check out www.burreninbloom.com for more information about this wonderfully unique festival.

One of my first stops in the Burren was to visit Ireland's most famous and most photographed Dolmens, Poulnabrone Dolmen

Poulnabrone Dolmen (Poll na mBrón in Irish meaning "hole of sorrows") is a portal tomb dating back to the Neolithic period, probably between 4200 BC to 2900 BC

A lovely old stone cairn in the Burren. Don't know how old this one is, but I'm pretty sure it's at least older than the signpost pictured below  

Although much of the Burren landscape may look bare and desolate, there are many amazing stone structures and awe inspiring landscapes hidden away here waiting to be discovered, from stone forts and massive caves to the world famous Cliffs of Moher.  

The Burren is a great place to go to see vast stretches of beautiful old stone walls and structures, and the Burren stone itself is one of the most beautiful and lively textured types of stone I know. You can see more examples of Burren stone walls in my blog post Drystone Walling on Inis Oírr Island. 

Arriving at my destination in Milltoen Malbay after my inspiring drive through the Burren I was well up for getting stuck into a bit of dry stone walling. For our little stone project we decided to build a section of drystone wall in the traditional style that is most common in this part of Co.Clare. It would be a double sided wall with a single stone cap that is laid diagonally.   

We also incorporated a traditional 'step stile' feature. For those of you who don't know what a step stile is, this is a feature that would allow farmers to cross boundary walls without the need for a gate. They are made by using long stone slabs that run through the width of the wall and protrude out either side creating a cantilevered step on ether side of the wall. This allows a person to step up on to the wall and back down the other side with ease. Another variation of this is what is known as a squeeze stile, where a long narrow gap is left in the wall just wide enough for a person to squeeze through, yet narrow enough to prevent the livestock getting through.    

Artist Mary Wycherley was also on-site over the weekend filming for an Arts Council funded film she is working on titled 'The Dance of Making'

It was wonderful to to have the opportunity to work in such beautiful settings surrounded by an abundance of great building stone. As one of the lads said, it was like being in a sweetshop for stonemasons. 

Working here also gave us a chance to see some of the amazing pieces of stone David is extracting from the quarry. 

The Liscannor stone itself is one of the most distinctive types of stone in Ireland, and is instantly recognisable by the rich fossils which run throughout the stone that gives it its rich texture

The Liscannor sandstone is completely unique to this part of the country and over time has found its way to all corners of the world. At its peak the area employed over 500 men in at least nine quarries.

The quarries were so prosperous in the early 1900's that a village was built around the famous Doonagore mines which put Liscannor port on the map. It was one of the busiest of the small ports along the west coast of Ireland with its shipments of stone to London and Liverpool. However, the advent of World War 1 put an end to all the prosperity, and when the boats were unable to travel the mines closed.

A number of mines reopened in the 1960's and are still producing this famous stone today, David's of course being one of them.

This quarry is apparently extracting the largest stone slabs in the country, a claim that is not hard to believe when you see the size of some of the enormous pieces laying around the quarry.

Another DSWAI meet up comes to an end. Pictured left to right  Ken Curran, Waldemar Wower, Noel O' Shaughnessy, Rory Noone, Mal Sheehan, Tom Pollard and Sunny Wieler.

Another successful DSWAI event over. Thanks David O' Connor from Liscannor Flagstone Quarries, not only for use of his quarry and the mountains of stone he donated to the project, but also for the endless hours he put into helping us out.

More info and photos of this DSWAI event and on the Liscannor stone in my blog post on the DSWAI webpage here. 

Drystone walling on the foot of The Rock of Cashel

On Monday a few of the members of the association met up at the foot of The Rock of Cashel to promote both the DSWA of Ireland and Fellow association member  Tom Pollard's Fly a flag for Ireland campaign, for a segment to be shown on an RTE documentary "How to be Irish"  

Tom's Fly a flag for Ireland campaign. Please show your support by clicking on the link and 'like' the facebook page  

Tom's Fly a flag for Ireland campaign is looking to put some colour, positivity and pride back in our Country. Showing our elected representatives and European neighbours that we are a proud and colourful independent nation. Tom is asking for everyone who calls Ireland their home to show their pride for this amazing country and decorate early for St. Patrick's Day. We decorate early for Christmas Day and Halloween, so why not St. Patrick's Day? asks Tom. 

And what better way of showing our pride and Irishness than building a traditional drystone wall in the epic backdrop of one of our most visited national monuments?

The Rock of Cashel

For those of you unfamiliar with The Rock of Cashel here is a brief description from megalithicireland.com
The Rock of Cashel, banded with limestone outcrops, rises 200 feet above the surrounding plain. AKA Cashel of the Kings or Patrick's Rock (Irish: Carraig Phádraig), it is asscociated in legend with St Patrick, but the site was originally the seat of the Kings of Munster. The site was donated to the church in 1101 by Muirchertach O Briain, King of Munster. The buildings we see today date from the 12th century, the oldest and also the tallest being the 28 metre ( 98 feet ) high round tower. The other building at Cashel are influenced by Hiberno-Romanesque or Germanic architecture.
Follow the link above to read more about The Rock of Cashel.

There is something very special about repairing old drystone walls, each stone rich in lichen and moss, once again sitting proud in the wall where it came from. Looking up at the masterful craftsmanship of the stone structure that makes up the Rock of Cashel not only inspires you to do quality work, it also fills you with a sense of responsibility to ensure that these skills are kept alive and passed on, so that future generations will have the knowledge and the will to keep this integral part of our heritage and countryside intact.    

For more photos and information about our Dry Stone Wall Association of Ireland meetup at Cashel check out my blog post on the DSWAI site here

Drystone Walling on Inis Oírr Island

A section of the 'feidín wall' built during the workshop.

Last weekend I attended my first dry stone walling workshop on Inis Oírr Island. And I am already looking forward to going back next year. For those of you who don't know where Inis Oírr (Inisheer) is, it is the smallest of the three islands that make up the Aran Islands in Galway Bay.

Walls of Inis Oírr

As a location for a dry stone walling workshop, I could not imagine a better place, as Inis Oírr has some of the finest examples of drystone walls in the country. Altogether the Aran Islands have roughly 1,500 kilometers of drystone walls over an area of just over 11000 acres (just under 18 square miles)

Group photo of 2011 workshop. photo by Paddy Crowe

The workshop is an action of Galway County Heritage plan and is run by the country's most knowledgeable and experienced drystone waller Patrick McAfee. Pat has also written a number of books on Irish stone walling and restoration and is also a dry stone walling instructor in Dublin.

This years workshop also saw guest instructors and speakers Nick Aitken and Gavin Rose. Nick is a member of the Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain and is a qualified Master Craftsman instructor and examiner. Gavin Rose is a drystone waller and trail builder working in the stunning Lake District National Park in England.



The dry stone workshop on Inis Oírr has been running since 2006. It is attended by a wide range of people, experienced wallers, stonemasons, archaeologists, geologists, self builders and anyone with an interest in heritage and stone.  This year saw the largest amount of participants to date, and I suspect it will grow by next year. One of the positives I have seen to emerge from the recession we are in is that more and more people are taking an interest in our heritage and looking to learn more about the many traditional skills and crafts that the people depended heavily on back in rural impoverished Ireland, skills that are sadly being lost.

A 'feidín wall' built during the 2009 dry stone walling workshop

One of the most unusual and beautiful walls to be found on the island is a type of wall known as a 'feidín wall' (same type of wall we built during the workshop this year). What is unusual about this type of wall is that unlike most other dry stone walls, a 'feidín wall' has the smaller stones on the bottom with the big stones on top. This type of wall is made up of a double sided wall on the bottom with a large single stone wall on top. The double sided wall at the bottom is made up of a series of large upright stones called mother stones, that run the full depth of the wall. The space between them is built up with smaller stones known as daughter stones. The upper part of the wall is then built using large stones only a single stone wide. The result is a extremely strong wall with a dense base to shelter animals and protect the soil from the strong prevailing winds, while the cracks and holes in the top of the wall let wind filter through. The light that shines through the cracks makes the wall look unstable, deterring animals from jumping on it.

Single stone, lace style wall

 Lots more photos of the 2011 Workshop in the slide show below

 

Slide show of 2011 Inis Oírr Dry Stone Walling Workshop 

  

'Aran gap' or 'Bearna'

Another walling feature I was very taken by is what is known as an 'Aran gap' or 'Bearna'. There are not a lot of roads around the island so much of the access to the fields is through other fields. However you will quickly notice that there do not seem to be any gates in the walls. This is because gaps are left in the wall where a single lace type wall is stacked in the gap, which can then be easily stacked up and taken down as needed for access for animals.

'Aran gap' or 'Bearna'

Inis Oírr as an island is quite a spectacular place. This year was not only my first time at the workshop, but it was also my first time visiting the island, and I must say I really was taken by the place. The island is an Irish speaking community with a population of about 250 people. And from what I can tell all 250 of them are about the warmest, friendliest people you will ever meet. 

Some of the other friendly locals on the island

The limestone pavement exposed in one of the fields after the soil has been taken by the strong winds.

Inis Oírr island is basically an extension of the Burren landscape . The large limestone pavements that make up the land are made up of crisscrossing cracks known as 'grikes', that leave isolated rocks called 'clints'. The limestone dates from the Visean period, formed as sediments in a tropical sea approximately 350 million years ago, and compressed into horizontal strata with fossil corals, crinoids, sea urchins and ammonites. Glaciation following the Namurian phase facilitated greater denudation. The result is that Inis Oírr is one of the finest examples of a Glacio-Karst landscape in the world.

It is an amazing feat of determination and triumph over hardship, how the locals turned this once unusable limestone pavement landscape into an island of lush green fields. They did this by removing the rough stone to fill the cracks or 'grikes' in the limestone pavement, leaving a flat surface. They also used the rough stone to build the walls that would later protect the fields from the wind. They then drew sand and seaweed up from the beach to create the soil, from which they would then be able to grow crops to feed their families, and grass to graze their animals.

St.Gobnait church 'Cill Ghobnait'

  For such a small island there are also many spectacular buildings and historical sites to visit as well (and I don't just mean the great pubs) You could spend days just wandering around the island looking at them. The island also has a famous shipwreck, better known from the opening credits of the TV series Father Ted. 

The Plassy wreck, thrown up on Finnish rock in 1960 during a wild storm. No lives were lost as the islanders saved all on board from harm.

There are many more amazing things to discover on the island, but as this is just a blog post and not a book, I will leave it at that. I would recommend everyone, both in Ireland and abroad to take a trip to Inis Oírr. I would also recommend that anyone with an interest in stone do one of the Dry Stone Walling Workshops out there. There are also other great ways of experiencing life on the island, as Inis Oírr also host some great Irish language courses, where you can learn the language by working and living on the island. They also have an arts center with an 'artist in residence' program where artists can take up residence and work on the island for a period of just a few weeks right up to three months.
   

There are lots more photos of the wonderful stone walls and landscape of Inis Oírr in the slide show below.

 

Slide show of the walls and landscape of Inis Oírr  

If you are interested in going to next years workshop, keep an eye out on my facebook page as I will keep you all updated  from there when the dates for next years event are confirmed.

If you are interested in finding out more about the stone walls of Ireland, I would recomend checking out Patrick McAfee's book 'Irish Stone Walls' This is a great little book full of information, useful for both amateur and expert stoneworkers. 

If you are a stone waller or a stonemason in Ireland I recommend checking out and joining the Dry Stone Wall Association of Ireland http://dswaireland.ning.com/

I would also recommend to anyone involved with stone to check out and become a member of the international Stone Foundation http://www.stonefoundation.org/

For more information on the Aran Islands checkout  http://www.aranisland.info/