Features
Stone Mad - Dry Stone Walls in the West of Ireland
In October of last year I attended a two-day seminar exploring the heritage of stone walls in Ireland, in particular the West of Ireland. It was organised by the Galway County Heritage Forum and the Heritage Council as part of the Galway Heritage plan 2004-2008. It was a response to the feedback received about what aspect of local heritage people felt was important and should be recognised and conserved. The seminar was originally intended to be organised on a workshop basis with the expectation that perhaps 15 to 20 people would attend; in fact the interest was so great that it had to be limited to 150 people, with at least 50 more expressing a wish to attend. The first day consisted of a number of lecture-based presentations about dry-stone walls from a number of quite different perspectives, ranging from the geological to the artistic, while the second day consisted of a practical demonstration/participation in the construction of a stone wall followed by two separate bus tours of relevant areas, one of the Burren in Co.Clare and one of south Galway near Gort.
This seminar made you realise the importance of stone walls, and dry-stone walls in particular, to the heritage of the country. There are estimated to be about 250,000 miles of stone walls in Ireland that are mainly used to partition and sub-divide land into different plots. Some of these are hundreds of years old and are everywhere on the rural landscape, mainly in the western half of the county. Because we see them everyday, we take them for granted and practically ignore them. It's only when you see tourists stop and photograph a wall that you begin to realise how special and unique they are. It's not just the amount of walls existing in the country that is quite staggering; it's also the different styles of walls, the different types of stone used and the skills that were involved in their construction.
Poor construction
This level of interest in one single event, coupled with the very obvious increased usage of stone in general construction, would suggest a rejuvenation in the craft of traditional stonework and an increased level of interest in the sympathetic use of stone in the construction of walls and buildings. This may indeed be the case but it's a pity that this level of interest and goodwill is not reflected in how stone is used today. The vast majority of stone walls being built around the country are of the "wet" variety, built with stone and cement. This may be understandable in the case of housing but there is no fundamental reason why the majority of general purpose boundary walls cannot be built dry. The quality of the walling techniques used is in most cases is very poor; most of it resembles vertical crazy paving that can look quite horrible. A lot of money is being spent to build something particularly ugly; when an aesthetically pleasing and practical structure could be built for a similar amount of money.
A properly-built double dry-stone wall is structurally very strong and can be almost as strong as the equivalent sized cement based wall. Despite the common perception, a dry stone wall should not be significantly more expensive to build than the cement equivalent although it's probably because of this perception that people are charging significantly more for them, thereby perpetuating the myth.
Dry-stone technique
At this stage it's worth taking a closer look at these walls and learning a bit more about them. Dry-stone walls are usually either of a single or a double variety. A single-stone wall consists of a single column of stones built one on top of the other while a double wall consists of two columns built side-by-side with the two sides knitted into each other. This gives it greater stability than the single variety and can consequently be built to a greater height. What follow is a brief overview of how a double stone wall is constructed. This is not a definitive guide to stone wall construction but should give people a feel for what is involved.
A solid foundation is crucial to the stability of any wall; this should ideally consist of large flat stones laid on top of a solid earth foundation. The soil may have to be dug slightly below ground level to give a level solid surface. Stones of different shapes and sizes are used in the construction of the wall; those that form the two faces should ideally have flat and even surfaces, making it easy to place on top of the other. Timber profiles of the appropriate size are placed at each end of the intended wall to act as guides against which the stones are placed. A string can also be attached between the profiles at each end to act as a guide while the wall is built to keep the sides straight and vertical. The string is raised as the wall is built up to its desired height.
Good stability
The wall is started by first laying a course of stones on top of the foundation along the line of the intended wall, one along each side. Each stone should be checked for stability as it is laid down. This can be done by attempting to rock the stone by hand to ensure that is does not move. If it does, then a stone wedge should be used on the "inside" face to make it stable. Stones should be laid with their length facing in towards the core of the wall. The goes against the natural inclination to lay a stone with the long side along the length of the wall. Laying the stone inwards helps with the stability of the wall. As the two sides progress, the core of the wall between the two sides should be filled with rubble stones of different shapes and sizes to form a solid mass. Sand or gravel should not be used as the infill.
Stones should be laid such that the top surface presents a horizontal level onto which another course can be easily placed. If a horizontal surface cannot be achieved then the slope should be in towards the middle of the wall; a surface sloping out makes it very difficult to lay another stone on top without it constantly falling off. The two sides of the wall should be built up together as the wall progresses to keep them at the same level. The sides are mostly built separately without the sides touching each other, with rubble stones in between. Now and again a stone on one of the sides is knitted in with the other side by lying on top of a stone on the other side. These are called "bond" stones and should have a length of roughly two-thirds of the width of the wall. A through stone should also be used on a regular basis; this is one whose length equals the width of the wall and goes from one face of the wall to the other. These "through" and "bond stones should be used regularly throughout the construction of the wall; one every square yard or so.
Appealing design
Stones of different sizes should be used to ensure that the joints between the stones of different courses do not coincide in a vertical direction. A vertical joint running most of the way up through a wall represents a weak point in the structure and will be the first point of failure. At most two courses should have coinciding joints, at which point the joint should be stopped with the stone of a third course. The line of joints between courses should follow a horizontal direction, although without having one continuous line along the length of the wall. The use of different sized stones also add to the aesthetic beauty of a wall; the use of too many similar sized stones results in a structure that resembles a brick wall and you lose the variation that adds to the character of a dry stone wall. The different sizes should be spread out evenly throughout the construction to give the wall a uniform look.
Finishing touches
Courses are laid on top of each other, following the general rules previously outlined until the desired height is reached. It is important that each stone is checked for stability when in position as even one loose stone can result in the collapse of an entire section of wall. The wall is now finished off with a layer of coping stones. These are flat heavy stones that sit across the width of the wall in a vertical direction, one lying against the other. The weight of the coping locks the stones underneath to give a very strong structure. They furthermore discourage animals from walking or jumping on top of the wall, possibly resulting in stones being knocked off.
The wall is now complete; all that is left to be done is to stand back and admire a thing of beauty. Hopefully you will now look at all of these stone walls that surround us with a renewed level of interest and with an appreciation of their construction and the part they play in the county's heritage. Perhaps you will have the opportunity to add to this heritage by either building a new stone wall or by getting one built.
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