Not exactly a destination but something we are often asked about. Especially in the West and North West of Ireland, wherever you go you’ll see fields surrounded by dry stone walls. No mortar is used to build these walls, just stone upon stone, placed careful to create a robust structure.
The origin of this type of fencing is nothing if not pragmatic, they are built with stones simply picked up from the ground around them. In this way they serve not just to create enclosures for livestock but to clear the land of stones making it more suitable for farming. The size of the fields are indicative of the quality of the land, in a place with very stony ground there will be smaller fields to use up more stone.
This explains why you don’t see them much in the East or South, where the land is rich and fertile and stones on the land are not an issue.
The style of wall will also vary according to the nature of local stone. In Galway walls made from smooth rounded stones are common. In places like the Aran Islands the stones are more irregular in size and shape and walls are built with the larger stones at the bottom. In areas with a lot of limestone, like Co Clare, you see sharp flat stone placed at an angle in the wall.
In some parts you will look in vain for gates to the fields – there are none because the wall is simply dismantled when stock needs to be moved and built up again afterwards. Even though they are generally not very high, they are effective barriers. A sheep or cow trying to cross them will likely bring stones tumbling down on them, not an experience they’ll want again.
Creating fields this way is a tradition that goes back millennia. At Ceide Fields in Co Sligo, archeologists are excavating ancient stone walled field systems dating back almost 6,000 years. They are not much different to the fields still in use in the surrounding area today.