An invatation to The Gathering of Stones

For the past number of months The Dry Stone Wall Association of Ireland in collaboration with The International Stone Foundation have been working hard behind the scenes on creating a big dry stone walling event to join in the nation wide celebrations of The Gathering Ireland 2013 that is running throughout the year.

The Dry Stone Wall Association of Ireland (DSWAI) and the Stone Foundation based in the USA have come together with a vision to invite this international community ‘home’ for a Gathering of Stones in the geographical centre of Ireland. In association with Bord na Mona, The Gathering of Stones will be an event where wallers and masons from all over the world as well as people with an interest in Irish dry stone walls will come together. Under the instruction and guidance of the DSWAI they will build an attractive communal stone installation that will act as a permanent monument to all events and gatherings that will take place during The Gathering 2013.

Set in the grounds of the beautiful Lough Boora Parklands in County Offaly, the event will take place over the course of four days, during which we will build our dry stone gathering point.

All four provinces in Ireland will be represented in the sculpture by using a particular stone type and style from each province.

Bring a stone home to Lough Boora

 Attendees are invited to “Bring a stone home to Lough Boora. These stones will be incorporated into the final installation. You are welcome to bring a rock, but a pebble will be more practical, something that will fit in your pocket will do just fine. A few larger rocks will also be making the trip to Ireland. A small number of granite blocks from the old Immigrant Docks near Battery Park in New York have been offered to the project. Millions of emigrants walked over these stones after registering at Ellis Island, including nearly everyone from Ireland during the famine years and after.  RJW–Gem Campbell Stonemasons Inc. in Canada who have obtained these blocks have offered to donate a number of these to be incorporated into the sculpture.

Please come and joins us for this unique celebration of Irish dry stone heritage.

For more information log onto the DSWAI website http://dswaireland.ning.com

Bookings for this event as well as a detailed information pack for people planning on joining us for this event will be available on the DSWAI website within the next week so be sure to book your spot quick before the event fills up. 

Very excited about this event. Look forward to seeing some of you there. 

Feile na gCloch (Festival of Stone) 2012 Inis Oírr Island

On the fourth weekend of September I once again headed off to Inis Oirr (Inisheer) on the Aran Islands for this year's Feile na gCloch (Festival of Stone). 

The festival is organised and run by the country's most knowledgeable and experienced drystone waller, Patrick McAfee, in conjunction with the wonderful Marie Mannion, Heritage Officer of Galway County Council and Paddy Crowe, manager of the Inis Oirr Cooperative.  

Group photo courtesy of Karl Kennedy 

Every year this event seems to get bigger and bigger, as does the list of international experts and speakers at the event. This year saw John Shaw-Rimmington of Dry Stone Walls Across Canada, Tomas Lipps of the Stone Foundation, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Alexandra Morosco of Stonefest, Seattle, and Scott Hackney of Marenakos Stone, Seattle and co-director of Stonefest share their knowledge as well as giving inspirational presentations on some of the amazing things happening with stone in many different parts of the world.  

There were many other international people in attendance at the stone festival, including people from France, Switzerland, Australia, Netherlands, Ukraine, England ,Finland and the USA. 

Also in attendance was seven of the eight person committee of the Dry Stone Wall Association of Ireland (Ken Curran, Sunny Wieler, Tom Pollard, Alex Panteleyenko, Rory Noone, Noel O'Shaughnassey and Francis Coady) who briefly explained their plans and aspirations for the association, which was met with a positive response. The eight member of the committee (Malachy Sheehan) was unable to attend this years Feile.   

This years build was a large vertical stitch retaining wall (at least 150 tonnes)up to 12 feet (3.6Metres) high on one end. This wall style was traditional to the island, and the most effective method of building retaining walls.

Looking down at the retaining wall it is very easy to see why drystone retaining walls don't need any drainage pipes or gravel, as the entire structure is free draining (one of the many benefits of building in the dry stone method) 

Because of the large number of participants this year,  Nick Aitken and George Gunn, both well seasoned wallers and instructors from Scotland, very kindly took separate groups of people to train at walls beside the cooperative and near the harbour. 

After three days of building one massive new retaining wall was completed, two free standing walls were rebuilt and a large quantity of Guinness and soup were consumed. But most importantly, new friendships were made, and the passion and respect for the traditional craft of dry stone walling continued to grow and be cared for in this country.    

One of my favourite things to do when out on the island is to go off on a solitary wander, either early in the morning or late in the evening, to enjoy the spectacular scenery as well as the abundance of outstanding drystone walls the island has to offer..  

St.Gobnait church 'Cill Ghobnait' one of my two favourite buildings on the island (the second being Tigh Ned's pub)

Old stone cairns

traditional stone gate

Like all the other regular attendants of Feile na gCloch, I am already looking forward to next years Feile. If you would like to see my post on last years event click here. I also recommend checking out Louise Price of Limewinow's blog post on this years event. If you would like to keep up to date with Dry stone walling in Ireland or wish to find out about next years event, check out The Dry Stone Wall Association of Ireland web page http://dswaireland.ning.com/ and feel free to sign up as a member too.

And finally      

Sorry for my absence from my blog over the past few months. I have been very busy working on my new big Stone Art project. I will share more about this when I have it completed. I still have plenty of interesting things to write about and will try to get posting more often again.  

Busy working with stone instead of my computer

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

Newgrange and the winter solstice.

One of the exterior walls of Newgrange

As the winter solstice is coming up, I thought it would be an appropriate time to talk about one of Ireland's oldest and most impressive stone structures.
I am talking of course about Newgrange in County Meath. (County Meath  is well known as Ireland’s Heritage Capital)
According to the most reliable Carbon 14 dates available from archaeology, it is believed that Newgrange (or Sí an Bhrú as it is know in Irish) was constructed over 5,000 years ago, around 3200BC. This makes it more than 600 years older than the Giza Pyramids in Egypt, and 1,000 years more ancient than Stonehenge in the UK. It was built during the Neolithic or New Stone Age by a farming community that prospered on the rich lands of the Boyne Valley. Knowth and Dowth are similar mounds nearby that together with Newgrange have been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Archaeologists classified Newgrange as a passage tomb, however it is now recognised to be much more than a passage tomb. Ancient Temple is a more fitting classification, a place of astrological, spiritual, religious and ceremonial importance, much as present day cathedrals are places of prestige and worship where dignitaries may be laid to rest. The Mound or Cairn at Newgrange is about 300 feet in diameter covering an area of over one acre, and has 97 Kerbstones at the base of the cairn, some of which are richly decorated with megalithic art. The 19 metre long inner passage leads to a cruciform chamber with a corbelled roof. The amount of time and labour invested in construction of Newgrange suggests a well-organised society with specialised groups responsible for different aspects of construction. 

Newgrange through one of the native Hawthorn hedges that surround the site

The entrance into Newgrange with the famous entrance stone, kerbstone 1

To gain entry to the tomb, it would have been necessary to climb over the highly decorated kerb stone and then slide the heavy stone door that closed the entrance to the passage (now visible bolted to the right of the entrance.)

Newgrange is an incredibly popular tourist attraction, and is a particularly popular place to visit at this time of the year because of its alignment with the winter solstice.

Immediately above the entrance to the passage is a small opening known as a roof-box, which is in alignment with the Sun at the winter solstice and allows the Suns rays to penetrate the tomb and light up the central chamber during this period (December 19th to 23rd).

Short National Geographic Video about Newgrange

Above is a 3D animation of the passage way in Newgrange. See more cool 3D models of Newgrange on this site here



The inner passage of Newgrange (image from Wikipedia)

Looking down the inner passage (photo from Boyne Valley Tours)

Inside the chamber of Newgrange (photo by OPW)

Megalithic art carved on the roof stone of the east recess off the main chamber inside the mound at Newgrange.  (photo from Boyne Valley Tours)

Building Newgrange

The white quartz facade of Newgrange

As a stonemason what I find most fascinating about Newgrange is its construction.
Many of these stone slabs, 550 in number, were collected from where they had been lying in the landscape. Because many of the stones were found to be weathered, it is believed they were not quarried, so there would have been a huge logistical task in finding suitable boulders dotted throughout the landscape.


Some of the large kerbstones at the rear of the structure

Great effort and time was needed for the planning, gathering of materials and construction of these monuments. This is clearly evident from the vast distances the builders travelled to acquire the particular stone types. The majority of structural stones in the Boyne Valley tombs are greywacke. This stone type was quarried in the Clogherhead area, north of Drogheda, and shipped along sea and river, then finally log-rolled from a docking point on the Boyne up to the construction area at Newgrange.

The white quartz facade of Newgrange

The facade at Newgrange consists of white quartz, which has its origins in the Wicklow Mountains to the South of the site.
The interspersed granite boulders were collected from the North shore of Dundalk Bay. The long distances involved suggest a similar sea-faring route may have been a more practical choice than travelling across land. The majority of the cairn consists of a river rolled stone acquired from the banks and terraces of the river Boyne around 1km below the monument. It is estimated that some 200,000 tonnes of material are present in the cairn. It is not known for certain the exact building practices used by this Neolithic Culture. Archaeologists have suggested various theories. It is most likely that log-rolling, the erection of wooden scaffolding and earthen ramps were employed to shift the large boulders.
Michael J. O'Kelly, who excavated Newgrange, felt that the workforce involved in building Newgrange would have been divided up into about six gangs or teams, each with its own set of tasks and area of expertise.

Kerbstone 52 on the North-western side of the mound

There is no doubt that the people in charge of Newgrange's construction, from the master builder and architect down to the team foremen, were "intelligent and experienced", according to O'Kelly.

The corbelled roof  from inside the main chamber of Newgrange (photo from Boyne Valley Tours)

The passage and chamber orthostats (large stones set upright) would have been put in place before construction of the cairn itself actually began, and it is probable the kerb would have been marked out at this stage too. The addition of grooves onto the top surface of the passage roof stones shows that the builders were aware of the need to redirect water seepage from the cairn, and therefore keep the passage water-proofed.
The corbelled vault of the chamber is one of the finest of its kind in Western Europe today, standing intact without conservation or repair of any kind exactly as it did when first erected 5000 years ago. All of the orthostats (standing stones) in the chamber are used to support the corbelled roof. Some have leaned inwards over time due to the weight of the cairn material pressing down on the chamber. The tomb builders filled the gaps between the roof stones in the passage with sea sand and burned soil to keep the passage dry. The corbelled roof was constructed of horizontally laid courses of large slabs, each course partly resting on the one below it and partly oversailing it so that with each course the diameter of the roof diminished, until finally the vault was closed by a single capstone six metres above the floor. The outer ends of the corbels were buried in the cairn and were tilted slightly downward; this served to throw off the rainwater percolating through the cairn. It was a most effective weather-proofing and kept the chamber dry even in prolonged bad weather except in a few spots, now cured.

It is known that the white quartz, which was found on the ground in front of Newgrange during excavations, was not originally placed there by the builders. Some of the kerbstones which had fallen forward some time after the construction of the monument were found to be directly in contact with the subsoil, with no quartz beneath them. The reconstructed façade of Newgrange is controversial - many people feel that it is only an educated guess as to what the original tomb looked like. The reconstruction also cut away some of the mound so that visitors can walk around the carved kerbstone, rather than having to climb over it.
Professor Frank Mitchell suggested that the monument could have been built within a space of five years, basing his estimation upon the likely number of local inhabitants during the Neolithic and the amount of time they would have devoted to building it rather than farming. This estimate was however criticised by M.J. O’Kelly and his archaeological team, who believed that it would have taken thirty years to build at the very least.

Stonehenge buit 1000 years after Newgrang
e (photo by Gareth Wiscombe)

In the later centuries following the initial construction and use of the passage toumb at Newgrange, ritual practices changed but the site remained an important ritual focus. As elsewhere in Ireland and Britain, rituals shifted from the enclosed spaces of megalithic tombs to large open air enclosures called ‘henges’. Henges derived their name from the ultimate henge – Stonehenge – but were more typically formed from circular earthen banks, circles of pits, circles of upright timbers, or circles of upright stones (without the famous horizontal lintels that Stonehenge possesses.)   

The entrance to Newgrange as it looked when it was redescovered

The passage tomb was rediscovered in 1699 when material was being taken for a road building project, a local landowner, Charles Campbell, ordered some of his farm labourers to dig up a part of Newgrange, which then had the appearance of a large mound of earth, so that he could collect stone from within it. The labourers soon discovered the entrance to the tomb within the mound.

I must admit, I have been living in Dublin for over two years now, and I have only recently made the 45minute trip by car to Newgrange. I would definitely recommended making the trip if you are in the area, or even just visiting Dublin.

Admission to the chamber of Newgrange for the Winter Solstice sunrise is by lottery. Application forms are available at the reception desk in the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre, where there is a special post box for completed application forms. There were 31,531 applications submitted for the 2011 Winter Solstice Draw. Application forms are now available for the 2012 Solstice Lottery Draw which will take place on September 28th 2012.

For more information on tours check out http://www.boynevalleytours.com/
For more informtion on Newgrange check out http://www.newgrange.com/

Thanks to Michael Fox from Boyne Vally Tours for the use of the photos from his website for this post.

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/