03 Brye | irishrockart

Byre

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In Ireland a small farm building is called a "byre." I built this byre where I grew up in Ireland in my teens. My objective was to create a building using only materials from our neighborhood just as the small farmers on our mountain did in the past. I hand hewed the beams for the roof and learned to thatch so I could make a traditional roof.

I built this "byre" or barn in Ireland where I grew up, in the traditional style using locally sourced and grown materials.

I built this "byre" or barn in Ireland where I grew up, in the traditional style using locally sourced and grown materials.

I began the Byre in 1992 on my fourteenth birthday and finished thatching it 2 yrs later.

The dry stone walls are 2 ft thick at the base and it is 23 ft high at its highest point.

Rolls of sod called "scraws" are cut and rolled out on the roof. The thatch is pegged into this using twisted hazel rods called "scallops." The old man Bertie Munns taught me how to make the traditional Irish thatched roof.

I sowed an acre of rye to use for the thatching.

The roof initially gets two coats of thatch. Then a new layer is needed every 15 years.

My sister kept her horse in this building for many years.

In 2015 the roof was re-thatched. It now looks like it has been there hundreds of years.

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CONTACT

860.294.6971

Justin Money

irishrockart@hotmail.com

Irish Rock Art, Inc.

24 Maple Street Ext.

Kent, CT 06757

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