THE MOURNE WALL

This year marks the centenary of the completion of the Mourne Wall in 1922, but its origins go back much earlier. In 1891 it was decided that a reservoir should be built in the Mourne Mountains to secure a water supply for the growing population of Belfast. Construction of the Silent Valley Reservoir began in 1923 and was completed in 1933, but prior to that a means of keeping wandering livestock out of the water catchment area was required, and for that purpose the Mourne Wall was built.

From March to mid-October every year between 1904 and 1922, stonemasons worked to craft the Mourne Wall using granite from local quarries and traditional dry stone walling techniques. On average the wall is 1.5m high, 0.8m thick, and about 35km long. It encloses some 9000 acres of Mourne Mountain terrain and crosses the tops of 15 peaks, including 7 of the 10 highest mountains in Northern Ireland.