Ireland's Walls
The outer walls of our the monument symbolizes the 4 provinces of Ireland. Each of the four outer walls is in a building style iconic of that province.
Munster's Wall
Much of dry stone walls and stone-faced ditches in southern Ireland share a common uniqueness. This being the orientation in which the stones are placed in the wall.
Traditionally, when building dry stone walls, stones are laid on their flat 'horizontally'. I much Munster, the stones are flipped up on there edge so that the beds are place in vertical orientation, wedged together like tightly packed books on a bookshelf. It is for this reason this style of walling is known as 'Vertical wedged walling'.
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Whilst vertical wedged walls do exists in other parts of Ireland, Southern Ireland and in particular Co. Cork is where this style of walling is a common sight.
In the Gathering of Stones Monument, we pay homage to this unique style of walling in the Munster wall. The Munster wall is a 'single' wall (one stone thick), built using conglomerate sandstone,
Vertically wedged stone work is most commonly found in a retaining capacity as a stone faced earth bank or 'ditch'. Single wedged walls are less common but fine examples can be found in various parts of the country.
Ulster's Wall
Like elsewhere in Ireland, Ulster has a diverse range of wall types and styles. Probably Ulsters most iconic wall is the Mourne Wall, a huge double sided dry stone wall constructed to enclose a catchment area in the Mourne Mountains.
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Like the Mourne wall, our Ulster wall at the Gathering of Stones is a double sided dry stone wall, built using a mix of sandstone and quartzite from Donegal,
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Our Ulster wall is a random coursed, double wall with a distinct vertical cope.
A 'double wall' is a dry stone wall that uses separate layers of stones for ether side of the wall, with smaller stones known as 'hearting stones' filling the space between them. A band of through stones half ways up the wall help tie the two sides of the wall together.
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These walls usually have a inward slope to the wall known as a 'batter'. The Batter adds strenght to the wall, It also means the wall is narrower at the top than the base, allowing for the top of the wall to be covered by a single stone, protecting the smaller stones below and by tying the two wall faces together at the top. These stones are known as cope stones or ‘cap stones’
Leinster's Wall
Like elsewhere in Ireland, Leinster has a diverse range of wall types and styles. As it is in much of the country, the most common type of dry stone wall in Leinster is the double sided boulder wall.
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With much of Lenster's landscape dominated by rough limestone and granite, it is no wonder that these walls are a common site here.
At the Gathering of Stones monument, our Leinster wall is a double sided boulder dry stone wall, built using a mix of local Leinster limestone from Lough Boora and surrounding area.
Our Leinster wall is a random un-coursed, double wall with a indistinct rubble cope.
Similarly to the Ulster wall, this is a 'double' dry stone wall that uses separate layers of stones for ether side of the wall, but unlike the Ulster wall that uses flat coursed stones, this wall uses rough rounded stones and boulders. Double bolder walls are often much thicker than coursed walls due to the size of the stones. The also often lack much of a 'batter' or a viable cope.
Connacht's Wall
At the Gathering of Stones, our Connacht wall is a typical 'Aran feidin' which incorporates large vertical stones placed intermittently along the lower section of wall. These are known as 'mother stones'.
The small stones between them that make up the double are called 'children stones’, and the stones that make the single wall on top are known as the 'father stones’.
Our 'Aran feidin' has been built using a mixture of sandstone and limestone, giving it an extra ornate look.
Connacht too has a diverse range of dry stone wall types and styles. it is also home to one of the most unusual and unique wall types.
This very unusual wall known as a combination wall or 'feidin' wall. It is unique to the west of Ireland and a small area in Scotland where it is referred to as a 'Galloway Dyke'.
A combination wall is a double wall (two stones think) on the bottom half of the wall, with a single wall (one stone thick) on top.
The 'Aran baerna ' stone gate
You may have noticed that the Connaught and Ulster walls are connected by a loosely built section of wall. This section is in fact a stone gate, a common sight on the Aran Islands where there are no trees for timber and where metal gates rust rapidly in the salty sea air. The stone gate is an opening left in a wall that is then filled with loosely stacked stones. These stones can then easily be removed and restacked in a matter of minutes by the farmer.
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During the two years that the team of volunteers were completing the building of the eternal tower, they would close off the site between visits by creating stone gates in the four entrances into the monument. As is demonstrated by one of the team below.
