Not far from the Limewindow cottage In the townland of Glencoagh
With Patsy Mc Anaw – admiring his collection of interesting salvaged stone
Like this ‘sink’ with it’s beautifully punched surface
and this vessel which was used to break the sharp whin branches – to pound them with a beetle in – for horse feed
even the gate pillars hold treasure
Nobody remembers his origins but this boy lay in a byre throughout Patsy’s childhood, only to go missing for a fair few years. When he turned up again Patsy decided to keep him safe in the pillar
At every turn are signs of Patsy’s fondness of stone
Also of hard graft to reclaim rough ground into verdant pasture
Since his retirement Patsy has single-handedly built many walls to surround and shelter
One kilometer of walls in total
Adding up to 5000 hours of labour
Long may the walls of Glencoe continue to grow
limewindow 
What beautiful stonework…. an awful lot of work has gone into that. I also love the light switches in Patsy’s house…. we used to have those here too.
Hello there – the light switches, interesting you should notice, are of course old school fitted in the sixties or when electric came to each house, and in these parts all switches were fitted by Patsy’s dad!
I love those switches. I wanted to keep them when we were upgrading our electricity (which was really dangerous) but you’re not allowed use them anymore! I kept one (not functioning) just for the heck of it 🙂
Our switches still work but shhhhh don’t tell anyone 🙂
🙂
I read once that Ireland has very attractive cloud formations . So for a visitor you have a nice choice of hard or soft things to admire.
Thanks for stopping by – certainly there is no shortage of soft things especially the typical Irish ‘soft day’ – meaning mild, dampish weather – http://www.irelandimages.org/the-maam-valley-connemara
Thanks Louise, for another very interesting blog.
Well done Patsy, you’re a legend. Lovely stonework that you can be proud of, it adds beauty to the landscape.
I wonder Louise if he has another old spare kitchen dresser around, I would love to have one. I must call back up the Donegal way in the not too distant future.
He is certainly a legend and with a great wealth of knowledge on local history – fanatasic to listen to. His efforts have enchanced the countryside into a piece of paradise which these photos don’t do justice.
As for the dresser, they can still be got (just about), and if you want one I shall keep an eye open for you.
Great to see the latest Gathering of Stones pictures and look forward to building beside you again in the spring Eddie!
Hi Louise,
Thanks for showing us again so much beauty, I ‘d love to come admire it with my own eyes..so when in spring is that exactly ? : )
Hopefully we still have a few springs left to us Carmen! Best wishes!
Dedication and beauty all rolled into one. Love it! Such lovely pics too.
Thanks Bridget.
Love the wall ,really nice ,Patsy is a happy man ,,Thanks Louise
He is one of the happiest men & working on a new wall as we speak.