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EYEING THE PILE of stones, one is spotted that just might fit. Its size and shape is quickly assessed as it is carried over.
“Try the flat side. We can build on top of that.”
The heavy stone is lifted and turned. A smaller one hammered underneath. Initially shaky, it becomes solid. Destined now to sit there for decades to come.
This is main activity of the Tír Chonaill Stone Festival which is taking place this weekend in Ballyshannon Co Donegal. It is one of a number of such stone-themed events this summer.
Louise Price, has been one of the main organisers of the festival since it began in 2014. “It’s hard work and, at the same time, relaxing.”
The nature of the craft makes it a ‘meitheal’ experience, she explains, “an ancient Irish word for cooperative work”. This type of shared work is common in farming communities across the world. “That’s the way we lived for a very long time.”
There has been a resurgence in hand skills including dry stone wall building, she says, as people are “looking for something more authentic in their lives”.
With schemes such as the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant as well as the high cost of labour, she adds that more people are learning these skills themselves.
Price herself “was hooked” to the craft after she started fixing up an old cottage 15 years ago and learned the skill from men that were doing it up for her.
Hammers and pickaxes are the tools in people’s hands though most have no need for tools as it is the placing of the stone that is the task at hand.
Between trainers (wallers), highly-skilled volunteers and eager-to-learn students, almost 30 people turned up yesterday morning donned in steel-toe boots and work gear. The festival is supported by the local ETB and council.
“This is not only an extremely historic part of Ballyshannon, but it matters a lot as we’re bringing something historic back to life,” Price explains.
The festival moves to a different part of Donegal every year “to allow different communities to enjoy the opportunity”. The wall they’re building this year will form part of a community project, with an orchard planned in the field beside it.
Stone carving is also on offer with a number of students chiselling away under the shadow of Saint Anne’s Church.
It is apt that this is taking place here, according to Barry Sweeny who is part of the Ballyshannon Regeneration Group.
He delicately opens a book with fragile and yellow pages. It is a novel from 1896 by Henry Caldwell Lipsett whose family hailed from the end of the street the church is on.
One of the book’s characters, ‘Old Shan’, was a stone carver whose “favourite haunt” was in the churchyard. Sweeny reads a section that gives an insight into the life of the fictional handyman:
“At the time he did very little work, and used to spend the greater part of his day there stringing rhymes together, while he renewed the inscriptions upon the old weather beaten stones, and made them once more legible.”
This work ethic was not reflected in the builders and carvers yesterday as they were a non-stop team apart from a break for soup and sandwiches at lunch.
The enjoyment of everyone was evident from the high energy chat between munches. The feeling only gained from a well deserved sit down and a satisfying cup of tea after working outdoors.
As the day progressed the piles of stones shrank as they were organised into the 40-metre-long wall.
If you fancy yourself as a waller, other stone festivals are taking place in Fanad Co Donegal and Inis Oírr Co Galway in the coming months. Details of both are not finalised as yet.
Tír Chonaill Stone Festival continues in Ballyshannon from 9am to 4pm today (tirchonaillstonefestival.ie), with the hopes of completing the wall by the time it wraps up.
Not many festival-goers get to leave such a legacy!
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Keir Starmer says Joe Biden is so delighted he is the new Prime Minister, not only did he phone up to congratulate him on Friday, he did it three times on Saturday and five times on Sunday.
@Stephen Gaffney: the Democrats and the democrat biased media have lied for the last 4 years about Joe’s cognitive decline. It finally got to the point where it was absolutely undeniable during the debate and now they are scrambling to have him removed. Less than a month ago The Journal put out an article about “Cheap Fakes” trying to make out it was a Republican conspiracy to make Biden look bad. Do they not realise we can see through their biased opinions and have lost faith in their reporting!
@John K: White House also put out a statement saying he doesn’t have Parkinson’s. He is not taking medication for Parkinson’s. And he’s not receiving any treatment for Parkinson’s.
Not one mention of that severe onset of dementia.
@Stephen Gaffney: judge Martin Nolan at it again in the above article he is some work
@Bernard Connolly: What kind of world does he live in?
@John K: The Journal has almost become predictable at this stage
@Stephen Gaffney: The comment of the week goes to your Mr Gaffney :-)
@Terry Molloy: you(typo)
@Stephen Gaffney: American voters will have a cruel choice between a barely functional Biden and a diabolically felonious Trump …
Whichever of these 2 chaps they choose, the future looks bleak for the next 4 years …
Unless one or both of them drop out and the voters can choose more suitable, younger candidates for the POTUS & VP
@Bernard Connolly: Appalling sentencing as per usual. He needs to be removed and investigated himself as it’s always the same. These vile creatures must jump for joy when they get him judging their cases. Should be automatic minimum sentencing for these types of crimes. A suspended sentence is just shocking.
@John K: and everything that comes out of the lying treacherous sex offender fraudster orange thing is lies and projection
@Jose mourinho: If Trump wins the war in Ukraine will be over. Simple as that. Don’t care what people think of him or what he did / didn’t do.
Also, I know you got sacked from Roma but getting on the journal comments is a bit mental.
Donald Trump is brilliant. Everyone knows he’s brilliant. No one can deny it.
@Pól Pot: Not ashamed to use this nickname? You probably have no clue what it means.
@Alex: If you knew anything about geography, you’d understand that Trump is the only hope for a free and brave global economy.
@Pól Pot: I seem to remember his trade war with China didn’t go well..or his promise to make Mexico pay for.border wall and take back car manufacturing jobs from there too.
@Sean: If you knew anything about ornithology, you’d understand that the bald eagle is infact a sea eagle (Haliaeetus species) that commonly occurs inland along rivers and large lakes.
@Pól Pot: I thought that you’d be more interested in the northern lapwing (vanellus vanellus) since it is our national bird.
Want to try sport or history next?
@Sean: Neither. I’m simply happy that Donald has descended to the Mount of Olives as a prelude to His earthly reign.
@Pól Pot: the only olives trump knows about is in the oil he uses in his tan and hair colour
@Sean: Billions and billions of blue blistering barnacles! Blasphemy! Apostate! Pestilential pachyderm!
@Sean: He didn’t even know where Mexico was, when asked to point it out on a map.
Biden has already made his decision. He has said that he does not intend dropping out. Somebody should inform Pelosi of his decision.
@Nodon: big big mistake. If he won’t go, he should be pushed.
@Nodon: Someone should inform Joe he’s Trump’s best asset in the election campaign.
See Nolan is at it again. Another suspended sentence.
@Gary Mullen: i just read that report, how on earth is nolan allowed to continue wit with these suspend sentences.
@Gary Mullen: idiot….hasn’t a f*&&^%clue
Four More Wars!
Smashing through his campaign like a freight train, just like they knocked Bernie Sanders out with Hillary….. and look how well that worked out. I love watching the car crash politics of an American election year. Need more popcorn n beer
With Nato announcing that they are sending fighter jets to Ukraine expect emergency wartime conditions to be announced by the end of the year in the West, especially with the launch of Central bank currencies at the end of the year, which will facilitate the inevitable rationing quite easily, which will then be held onto after the emergency ends to limit every citizens carbon footprint….like clockwork…..so don’t expect there to be another one of those swell presidential elections this year.
@Dere: You forgot to mention the Illuminati, or is it 5G or vaccinies, I can’t keep up!
@Papa Smut: nah, just the military industrial complex and its partner in crime the financial industry, ya know the one President Eisenhower so fervently warmed the Anerican public about in his farewell presidential speech as the greatest threat to America…..but yeah, it’s just a conspiracy tinfoil hat thing.
Since he has been in power, he has work very hard to earn billions selling ammunitions and arms, as they were humiliated in Afghanistan and lost billions of weapons and vehicles. He has worked very hard not to help for peace but to create more conflicts. He is living in a cold war time and everyone not like him is a communist.
Trump has for him that he never went to war.
Good auld Martin.
@Jp Cleary: I wonder if any of those images were of his kids what would happen
My god are we and the world in for a horrendous time if its trump. My god sure the Democrats have someone they can put foreward to at least make a fight of it. Trump did and will destroy America and the world. Oh my god. Such an evil holligan.
@John Flanagan: I think people forget just how incompetent Trump is. Admittedly with the almost daily stream of d-e-b-a-s-e-d stream of consciousness he issues, it’s hard to remember everything grossly deficient about him.
@John Flanagan: Little over dramatic? Now I’m not his biggest fan but when “did” trump destroy the world?.
@John John: Trump recently had a meeting with oil executives in which he proposed to them favourable economic policy in return for campaign funding. Trump is in thrall to the corporations too.
He has made his decision but has forgotten what it was.
Biden paved the way for Trump. What a legacy.
@087 bed: Comment straight from Orwell Road standard narrative. Why would we get to vote on this?
Maybe you should concentrate on your own fascist president who for some reason has no opposition. I wonder why
@Fr. Fintan Stack: So anyone talking sense or fact is Russian, Good grief you are slow.
If your lucky enough to have a grand parent and if people and organisations consistently abused them , I know what I would do , I would turn the narrative back on the lying treacherous sex offender fraudster orange thing, and the epistine files
@Robert Halvey: The Epistinians shall be freed back unto their rightful lands.
@Robert Halvey: what the actual F are you talking about?
@Ger Whelan: all iam saying lad is Biden old and has slowed done a bit . But you and yours ignore the lying treacherous sex offender fraudster orange things old aswell
@087 bed: Ukraine cannot join NATO while it’s still at war with Russia. NATO allowing Ukraine to join while it’s at war is NATO declaring war on Russia which won’t happen. So you can stop crying.
The headline is 5 words too long
Stick to acting George!
Clooney up to his neck in it. Oddball.
Take the fifth Joe.
Biden has got to be the greatest president of all time!!!!!
@Peter Brown:… Lol
Who said to Putin – Wait till after the election. I will have more flexibility?
I appreciate the ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou’ reference in the Clooney sub-headline.
Donald will betray everyone. He has nothing left to lose. He’s all in. I do believe him when he said he would be dictator for a day, it’s all it would take to subdue the USA with the military on his side.
Come to Jesus, Joe!
I just read the headline and I knew it Nolan
I would vote for a dead joe before I would use my spit to save the lying treacherous sex offender fraudster orange thing from dehydration
have your say