Reviving Irish historical stone lifting with Andy Downes

In the last four years, a quiet revival has been taking place: the revival of Irish stonelifting. Andy Downes is one of those who has helped to bring back this lost Irish tradition.

In this first episode of Season 2 of How to be Irish, I speak with Andy of Irish Historic Stonelifting, who explains how he and others have rediscovered 47 stones in the last four years. Through analysis of the Dúchas archives and verification with local sources, they have managed to unearth a tradition that died out during famine times.

You can find Andy on TikTok: @irishstonelifting; Instagram: @handmedownes; YouTube: @irishstonelifting