Friday, June 8, 2012

Ancient Fences

This stone fence and gate is near a megalithic tomb on Achill Island, Ireland.  This particular tomb is over 5,000 years old.  Obviously these gates are not that old...but there are tombs on the island that date to the 3rd and 4th century B.C.  
The village of Slievemore, on Achill Island, originally thought to have been settled around the 12th century, AD, has been deserted since the beginning of the 20th century.  These stone walls and the piles left from the stone houses are all that is left of this ancient settlement.
 Now, sheep graze among the ruins, undisturbed by the ghosts of the thousands of years past.


Linking to Friday's Fences.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow. And we think we have old structures here in Virginia....!

beautiful photos.

Anonymous said...

We really loved all the stone walls and fences in Ireland. So ancient but still fascinating.

Pam and Sam

Elizabeth Edwards said...

i love stone walls/fence. i love your header photo. a beautiful rainy photo. (:

Jan n Jer said...

Wow...that is Old!!!! Very interesting history behind these pics. BTW...I keept forgetting to tell you I like your header pic...it looks very vintage to me!

Susan said...

It is so interesting how they made fences. I've always loved the look of them. I guess that's all they had to keep the flocks in.

TexWisGirl said...

how interesting. that's definitely not a fence most folks could capture.

Red said...

I think of the amazing amount of effort to build all these fences that turned out to be fairly permanent.

Bev said...

That is so interesting...so wonderful to see such an old fence!

Rose said...

I would love to live where I could see stone fences/walls on a regular basis.

Ms. Becky said...

that's one graceful sprawling fence along the hillside. I try to imagine all the heavy lifting and labor that went into the laying of that fence. I'm happy you've captured it. and I must tell you, the header photo is head-turning. it's all that I love - drama in the skies and a rain-glistened street. love it! happy weekend to you Linda.

Carletta said...

Another wee bit of Ireland! I love it Linda!

Kranky Granny said...

LInda, I have probably said this before but it is so true. Without bloggers like you sharing their travels I would never get to see the world.

Your post was both interesting and informative. Thank you for taking me along vicariously one your journey.

Faith Hope and Cherrytea said...

i sooo love the ancient stone walls and the sense of history evoked! wonderful post, Linda!
reminiscing..

Magical Mystical Teacher said...

Rule Number One when building a fence: Use the materials at hand--and they did! Lovely old stone walls!

Cathedral Fence