Irish Stone Walls

Number One Bestseller

A unique history and ‘how to’ book on one of Ireland’s most distinctive landscape features – the stone wall.

The Irish countryside is a patchwork of over 250,000 miles of stone wall. Built from local stone according to the style of each region – dry stone in the West and the Mourne mountains or mortar elsewhere – these walls are an intrinsic part of the landscape. This unique guide by expert stone mason Pat McAfee covers the history of this ancient tradition, giving illustrated examples and step-by-step instructions on constructing, conserving and repairing stone walls of all types – whether dry stone or mortar. It includes:

History of stone in Ireland
How to build dry stone and mortar walls
Basic and more advanced techniques
Dos and don’ts of repair work
Appropriate conservation methods

Author Biography

Pat McAfee is a stone mason and lectures widely, both in Ireland and abroad, on all aspects of stonework. You can visit his own website here. Pat McAfee is a stone mason and lectures widely, both in Ireland and abroad, on all aspects of stonework. You can visit his own website here.