For centuries, the stones on Ireland’s rugged landscape were more than simple geographical features
David Keohan lifting 'An Cloch Corchra', or The Purple Stone, at Stage Cove, Copper Coast, Co Waterford: 'The lifting of these stones could be going back 1,500 years.' Photograph: Nick Bradshaw
However, the practice began to disappear in the 18th and 19th centuries during British colonisation and vanished almost entirely around the 1840s when the Great Famine devastated the country. Most of the stones remain untouched where they were last lifted. “There were hundreds of stories about this, of men and women lifting stones as feats of strength and rites of passage,” he says. “So I went to these areas and started asking older people about the stories.
David Keohan at Benvoy Beach: 'There were hundreds of stories of lifting stones as feats of strength and rites of passage.' Photograph: Nick Bradshaw “The chieftains used to be coronated at this stone up on the hill and it was a test of strength to lift it off the ground. Keohan says it takes a lot of training because it’s “totally different” from lifting a deadlift. “The shape is difficult and the texture could be smooth and rounded,” he explains. “It’s just a hell of a lot more difficult and you are lifting it from the ground as well.”
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