Saturday, April 11, 2015

Celebrating Canada’s rich Irish cultural heritage


© John Shaw-Rimmington
This fall the Dry Stone Walling Association of Canada (Dry Stone Canada) will be running their third annual Dry Stone Festival.
The event will take place from September 25 - 27th 2015 on Amherst Island in Lake Ontario. They will be collaborating with the Dry Stone Walling Association of Ireland to celebrate and commemorate Canada’s rich Irish cultural heritage.
Amherst Island has one of the largest concentrations of historic dry stone walls in Canada, some are close to two hundred years old, most of them were built by original settlers from Ireland. Efforts are underway to have the site designated as a National Historic Site to officially recognize the value of this unique part of our Canadian heritage and as a way of preserving these culturally significant stone structures.

There will be a 2-day workshop on dry stone wall construction, run by Stone Foundation board member Patrick McAfee, featuring various Irish dry stone wall techniques.  The wall will represent a wall that originally ran from the Village of Stella to the Village of Emerald on the Island.


The finished wall will include a time capsule installed by the Ambassador to Canada from Ireland, Ambassador Ray Bassett.


Our concept for the professional feature involves predicting the future by creating a solar alignment at a pre-determined time and space. The feature will be positioned and built without any prior observation. 

Volunteer craftsmen are invited to attend and take part in the building of this special installation. Dry Stone Canada would like you to commit your skills to the effort and join them in creating and witnessing the spectacle!
This event is completely open to the public. 
Visit:  drystonecanada.com for more details.