Glorious grey rock: Ireland's drystone walls get international recognition

Unesco recently included dry stone wall construction here in its list of protected, cultural heritage practices around the world. Good news as a new year begins, and a promise of safeguarding another part of our heritage following a long campaign

Drystone walls near Glanmore Lake and Kenmare Bay, Kerry. Picture: Joan Willis / John Hinde Studios

Considering the enormous changes and destruction across the face of Ireland in little more than a half-century, it’s something of a miracle that many stone-walled structures have survived for millennia.

Some date back more than 5,000 years, while dry stone walls that act as field boundaries are regularly maintained by farmers in Clare, Galway, and other counties, especially in the west.