The Timekeeper

Earlier in the year I was commissioned under the Per Cent for Art scheme to create a sculpture for a secondary school in Drogheda Co. Louth. 

The brief was to create a piece to commemorate the transition of the school from its humble beginnings into the new extensive extension, the sculpture is based on the subject of the movement of  time. 

Our history traced through stone.

The permanence of stone means that much of what we know about our past has been discovered through examining the stone structures left behind by our ancestors, from structures and sites of worship to the dry stone walls that map out the history of the vernacular landscape of our countryside.  In the Drogheda area alone, more than 5000 years of history can be read through the many stone structures  that cover the landscape here, spanning from the Neolithic site of  Newgrange to the Norman beginnings of the town itself.  This Norman heritage is evident  in the earliest monument in the town which is the motte-and-bailey castle, now known as Millmount Fort.

Karl sits in the timekeeper's seat

'The Timekeeper'  sculpture pays tribute to this movement of time, recorded through stone.

From a distance the large vertical blocks of sandstone  take  on the appearance of a Neolithic structure. As you approach, the sundial element of the sculpture becomes apparent.

The large angled stone in the centre (gnomon) is angled parallel to the earth's axis, paying tribute to the first gnomon style sundials invented in the late 1300's. The bars of engineered limestone in the floor along with the relief carvings of cogs and wheels in the standing stones represent modern time.  

The precision of the limestone markers highlights the slight fluctuation in the accuracy of the shadows cast by the Neolithic gnomon as the seasons change. This in turn highlights the contrast between the rudimentary time mapping of the neoliths with the sophisticated precision of modern engineered time.

The stone seating area in the courtyard between the old and new buildings is an extension of the sculpture, with the time capsule placed  under the stone mosaic in the floor, a symbol of the school's confidence in its future.

The time capsule being placed under one of Sunny's mosaics 

The stone for this project is sandstone and comes from Drimkeelan quarry in County Donegal.  Drimkeelan quarry is one of the oldest working quarries in the country. The Abbey of Assaroe was built in 1180 using this stone, so it is known that quarrying started around this time. A carved sandstone lamp found in the mines of the quarry suggests mining could have already started in the middle ages, by Cistercian monks who had abbeys to build.

Shopping for gnomons with quarry owner Brian Kerrigan at Drimkeelan quarry 

Inside the sandstone mines of Drimkeelan during the Tír Ċonaill Stone Festival  in 2013. Read more about this here

The quarry also supplied stone for famous buildings such as The National Museum of Ireland, Leinster house(The Dail) and Stormont in Northern Ireland .

The piece of white quartzite built into the base of the gnomon links back to the white quartzite facade of the nearby prehistoric site of Newgrange.  

How Sundials Work.

Sundials indicate the time by casting a shadow or throwing light onto a surface known as a dial face or dial plate.

The time is indicated where a shadow falls on the dial face, which is usually inscribed with hour lines.

The entire object that casts a shadow or light onto the dial face is known as the sundial's gnomon.

The gnomon is set parallel to the earth's axis. This angle is horizontal at the equator and increases to vertical (90⁰) at the poles. The angle of the earth's axis is dependent on your location and can be found by checking the latitude on your GPS coordinates. The latitude of Drogheda is 53.717856⁰.

As well as being parallel to the earth's axis, the gnomon also points to the pole (in this case the North Pole.) North, South, East and West are marked on the sculpture on the back of the standing stones and behind the seat stone.

The Sun is highest in the sky at midday and casts a short shadow. In the afternoon, when the Sun is lower in the sky, the shadow is longer.

The length of the shadow is also affected by the seasons. Winter shadows are longer than Summer shadows. This is because the Sun is lower in the sky in Winter.

The speed of the shadow depends on the length of the gnomon. This gnomon, being almost 2 metres tall, means that the tip of the shadow will move about a third of its height (60cm) in an hour - 1cm per minute. This movement is due to the Earth's rotation.

Building the sculpture

Like may stonemason's I usually work alone, however with large projects like this I am lucky to have a great group of friends from the DSWAI who I can call on.

Scaled model 

Ken Curran splitting stone for the gnomon using plugs and feathers 

Sunny places the gnomon 

Ken begins work in the first relief carving

Ken and Sunny work on the carvings

One of Sunny's carvings nearing completion

One of standing stones carved by Ken

Alex Panteleyenko works on cutting the letters for the time capsule seating area as well as the numbers for the sundial

Time capsule seating area under construction 

The dry laid pitched stonework was a very slow process with about 60m2 to be laid in total. Fortunately I had Karl Kennedy and Mark Gregan with me for this stage of the build.

The majority of the stonework was laid in a radial orientation from the gnomon apart from one segment that connects the timekeeper's seat to the gnomon. 

Karl and Nick work in the shadow of the gnomon

Scottish master craftsman Nick Aitken also stopped by for a few days to pitch in while over visiting for one of our trips to work on The Gathering of Stones monument which a number of us are involved in.  

As is often the case when building something unique, this project ended up taking longer than expected, so the pressure was on to get it completed on time. It was a little surreal at times to be building a giant clock when you're under pressure to finish a job.  

Thanks again to the great group of guys who helped me realise this project. It is great to see the praise it is getting, and the process of its construction will hopefully give some of the students in the school an appreciation for the craft and for the work involved in applying those skills.   

A trip to Co. Clare for some dry stone walling with the DSWAI

An old section of dry stone wall in The Burren

Last weekend the DSWAI had a meet up in County Clare as we were invited by quarry owner David O' Connor of Liscannor Flagstones Quarries to come build some stone features at his quarry in Miltown Malbay.
Despite the long drive, I was looking forward to the trip, as it would give me the chance to take the scenic route through The Burren landscape, a stunning part of the country I have not been to in many years.

The Burren Landscape

The Burren is a karst-landscape region or alvar, measuring approximately 250 square kilometres. It is one of the largest karst landscapes in Europe. 

The word "Burren" comes from an Irish word "Boíreann" meaning a rocky place. This is an extremely appropriate name when you consider the lack of soil cover and the extent of exposed limestone pavement also known as a karst-landscape. However it has also been referred to in the past as "Fertile rock" due to the mixture of nutrient rich herb and floral species that flourish in the limestones cracks known as 'grikes'. There are in fact there are more than 650 different flowers, plants, and ferns to be found in this unique area of karst limestone, from Spotted Orchids to Spring Gentians, from Mountain Avens to Purple Orchids.

There is an annual festival called 'The Burren in Bloom' which takes place from the 4th of May till the 1st of June. Check out www.burreninbloom.com for more information about this wonderfully unique festival.

One of my first stops in the Burren was to visit Ireland's most famous and most photographed Dolmens, Poulnabrone Dolmen

Poulnabrone Dolmen (Poll na mBrón in Irish meaning "hole of sorrows") is a portal tomb dating back to the Neolithic period, probably between 4200 BC to 2900 BC

A lovely old stone cairn in the Burren. Don't know how old this one is, but I'm pretty sure it's at least older than the signpost pictured below  

Although much of the Burren landscape may look bare and desolate, there are many amazing stone structures and awe inspiring landscapes hidden away here waiting to be discovered, from stone forts and massive caves to the world famous Cliffs of Moher.  

The Burren is a great place to go to see vast stretches of beautiful old stone walls and structures, and the Burren stone itself is one of the most beautiful and lively textured types of stone I know. You can see more examples of Burren stone walls in my blog post Drystone Walling on Inis Oírr Island. 

Arriving at my destination in Milltoen Malbay after my inspiring drive through the Burren I was well up for getting stuck into a bit of dry stone walling. For our little stone project we decided to build a section of drystone wall in the traditional style that is most common in this part of Co.Clare. It would be a double sided wall with a single stone cap that is laid diagonally.   

We also incorporated a traditional 'step stile' feature. For those of you who don't know what a step stile is, this is a feature that would allow farmers to cross boundary walls without the need for a gate. They are made by using long stone slabs that run through the width of the wall and protrude out either side creating a cantilevered step on ether side of the wall. This allows a person to step up on to the wall and back down the other side with ease. Another variation of this is what is known as a squeeze stile, where a long narrow gap is left in the wall just wide enough for a person to squeeze through, yet narrow enough to prevent the livestock getting through.    

Artist Mary Wycherley was also on-site over the weekend filming for an Arts Council funded film she is working on titled 'The Dance of Making'

It was wonderful to to have the opportunity to work in such beautiful settings surrounded by an abundance of great building stone. As one of the lads said, it was like being in a sweetshop for stonemasons. 

Working here also gave us a chance to see some of the amazing pieces of stone David is extracting from the quarry. 

The Liscannor stone itself is one of the most distinctive types of stone in Ireland, and is instantly recognisable by the rich fossils which run throughout the stone that gives it its rich texture

The Liscannor sandstone is completely unique to this part of the country and over time has found its way to all corners of the world. At its peak the area employed over 500 men in at least nine quarries.

The quarries were so prosperous in the early 1900's that a village was built around the famous Doonagore mines which put Liscannor port on the map. It was one of the busiest of the small ports along the west coast of Ireland with its shipments of stone to London and Liverpool. However, the advent of World War 1 put an end to all the prosperity, and when the boats were unable to travel the mines closed.

A number of mines reopened in the 1960's and are still producing this famous stone today, David's of course being one of them.

This quarry is apparently extracting the largest stone slabs in the country, a claim that is not hard to believe when you see the size of some of the enormous pieces laying around the quarry.

Another DSWAI meet up comes to an end. Pictured left to right  Ken Curran, Waldemar Wower, Noel O' Shaughnessy, Rory Noone, Mal Sheehan, Tom Pollard and Sunny Wieler.

Another successful DSWAI event over. Thanks David O' Connor from Liscannor Flagstone Quarries, not only for use of his quarry and the mountains of stone he donated to the project, but also for the endless hours he put into helping us out.

More info and photos of this DSWAI event and on the Liscannor stone in my blog post on the DSWAI webpage here. 

Newgrange and the winter solstice.

One of the exterior walls of Newgrange

As the winter solstice is coming up, I thought it would be an appropriate time to talk about one of Ireland's oldest and most impressive stone structures.
I am talking of course about Newgrange in County Meath. (County Meath  is well known as Ireland’s Heritage Capital)
According to the most reliable Carbon 14 dates available from archaeology, it is believed that Newgrange (or Sí an Bhrú as it is know in Irish) was constructed over 5,000 years ago, around 3200BC. This makes it more than 600 years older than the Giza Pyramids in Egypt, and 1,000 years more ancient than Stonehenge in the UK. It was built during the Neolithic or New Stone Age by a farming community that prospered on the rich lands of the Boyne Valley. Knowth and Dowth are similar mounds nearby that together with Newgrange have been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Archaeologists classified Newgrange as a passage tomb, however it is now recognised to be much more than a passage tomb. Ancient Temple is a more fitting classification, a place of astrological, spiritual, religious and ceremonial importance, much as present day cathedrals are places of prestige and worship where dignitaries may be laid to rest. The Mound or Cairn at Newgrange is about 300 feet in diameter covering an area of over one acre, and has 97 Kerbstones at the base of the cairn, some of which are richly decorated with megalithic art. The 19 metre long inner passage leads to a cruciform chamber with a corbelled roof. The amount of time and labour invested in construction of Newgrange suggests a well-organised society with specialised groups responsible for different aspects of construction. 

Newgrange through one of the native Hawthorn hedges that surround the site

The entrance into Newgrange with the famous entrance stone, kerbstone 1

To gain entry to the tomb, it would have been necessary to climb over the highly decorated kerb stone and then slide the heavy stone door that closed the entrance to the passage (now visible bolted to the right of the entrance.)

Newgrange is an incredibly popular tourist attraction, and is a particularly popular place to visit at this time of the year because of its alignment with the winter solstice.

Immediately above the entrance to the passage is a small opening known as a roof-box, which is in alignment with the Sun at the winter solstice and allows the Suns rays to penetrate the tomb and light up the central chamber during this period (December 19th to 23rd).

Short National Geographic Video about Newgrange

Above is a 3D animation of the passage way in Newgrange. See more cool 3D models of Newgrange on this site here



The inner passage of Newgrange (image from Wikipedia)

Looking down the inner passage (photo from Boyne Valley Tours)

Inside the chamber of Newgrange (photo by OPW)

Megalithic art carved on the roof stone of the east recess off the main chamber inside the mound at Newgrange.  (photo from Boyne Valley Tours)

Building Newgrange

The white quartz facade of Newgrange

As a stonemason what I find most fascinating about Newgrange is its construction.
Many of these stone slabs, 550 in number, were collected from where they had been lying in the landscape. Because many of the stones were found to be weathered, it is believed they were not quarried, so there would have been a huge logistical task in finding suitable boulders dotted throughout the landscape.


Some of the large kerbstones at the rear of the structure

Great effort and time was needed for the planning, gathering of materials and construction of these monuments. This is clearly evident from the vast distances the builders travelled to acquire the particular stone types. The majority of structural stones in the Boyne Valley tombs are greywacke. This stone type was quarried in the Clogherhead area, north of Drogheda, and shipped along sea and river, then finally log-rolled from a docking point on the Boyne up to the construction area at Newgrange.

The white quartz facade of Newgrange

The facade at Newgrange consists of white quartz, which has its origins in the Wicklow Mountains to the South of the site.
The interspersed granite boulders were collected from the North shore of Dundalk Bay. The long distances involved suggest a similar sea-faring route may have been a more practical choice than travelling across land. The majority of the cairn consists of a river rolled stone acquired from the banks and terraces of the river Boyne around 1km below the monument. It is estimated that some 200,000 tonnes of material are present in the cairn. It is not known for certain the exact building practices used by this Neolithic Culture. Archaeologists have suggested various theories. It is most likely that log-rolling, the erection of wooden scaffolding and earthen ramps were employed to shift the large boulders.
Michael J. O'Kelly, who excavated Newgrange, felt that the workforce involved in building Newgrange would have been divided up into about six gangs or teams, each with its own set of tasks and area of expertise.

Kerbstone 52 on the North-western side of the mound

There is no doubt that the people in charge of Newgrange's construction, from the master builder and architect down to the team foremen, were "intelligent and experienced", according to O'Kelly.

The corbelled roof  from inside the main chamber of Newgrange (photo from Boyne Valley Tours)

The passage and chamber orthostats (large stones set upright) would have been put in place before construction of the cairn itself actually began, and it is probable the kerb would have been marked out at this stage too. The addition of grooves onto the top surface of the passage roof stones shows that the builders were aware of the need to redirect water seepage from the cairn, and therefore keep the passage water-proofed.
The corbelled vault of the chamber is one of the finest of its kind in Western Europe today, standing intact without conservation or repair of any kind exactly as it did when first erected 5000 years ago. All of the orthostats (standing stones) in the chamber are used to support the corbelled roof. Some have leaned inwards over time due to the weight of the cairn material pressing down on the chamber. The tomb builders filled the gaps between the roof stones in the passage with sea sand and burned soil to keep the passage dry. The corbelled roof was constructed of horizontally laid courses of large slabs, each course partly resting on the one below it and partly oversailing it so that with each course the diameter of the roof diminished, until finally the vault was closed by a single capstone six metres above the floor. The outer ends of the corbels were buried in the cairn and were tilted slightly downward; this served to throw off the rainwater percolating through the cairn. It was a most effective weather-proofing and kept the chamber dry even in prolonged bad weather except in a few spots, now cured.

It is known that the white quartz, which was found on the ground in front of Newgrange during excavations, was not originally placed there by the builders. Some of the kerbstones which had fallen forward some time after the construction of the monument were found to be directly in contact with the subsoil, with no quartz beneath them. The reconstructed façade of Newgrange is controversial - many people feel that it is only an educated guess as to what the original tomb looked like. The reconstruction also cut away some of the mound so that visitors can walk around the carved kerbstone, rather than having to climb over it.
Professor Frank Mitchell suggested that the monument could have been built within a space of five years, basing his estimation upon the likely number of local inhabitants during the Neolithic and the amount of time they would have devoted to building it rather than farming. This estimate was however criticised by M.J. O’Kelly and his archaeological team, who believed that it would have taken thirty years to build at the very least.

Stonehenge buit 1000 years after Newgrang
e (photo by Gareth Wiscombe)

In the later centuries following the initial construction and use of the passage toumb at Newgrange, ritual practices changed but the site remained an important ritual focus. As elsewhere in Ireland and Britain, rituals shifted from the enclosed spaces of megalithic tombs to large open air enclosures called ‘henges’. Henges derived their name from the ultimate henge – Stonehenge – but were more typically formed from circular earthen banks, circles of pits, circles of upright timbers, or circles of upright stones (without the famous horizontal lintels that Stonehenge possesses.)   

The entrance to Newgrange as it looked when it was redescovered

The passage tomb was rediscovered in 1699 when material was being taken for a road building project, a local landowner, Charles Campbell, ordered some of his farm labourers to dig up a part of Newgrange, which then had the appearance of a large mound of earth, so that he could collect stone from within it. The labourers soon discovered the entrance to the tomb within the mound.

I must admit, I have been living in Dublin for over two years now, and I have only recently made the 45minute trip by car to Newgrange. I would definitely recommended making the trip if you are in the area, or even just visiting Dublin.

Admission to the chamber of Newgrange for the Winter Solstice sunrise is by lottery. Application forms are available at the reception desk in the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre, where there is a special post box for completed application forms. There were 31,531 applications submitted for the 2011 Winter Solstice Draw. Application forms are now available for the 2012 Solstice Lottery Draw which will take place on September 28th 2012.

For more information on tours check out http://www.boynevalleytours.com/
For more informtion on Newgrange check out http://www.newgrange.com/

Thanks to Michael Fox from Boyne Vally Tours for the use of the photos from his website for this post.