American Knapper Headed to Ireland

Greeting UK Knappers

My name is Pete Davis and I am from Virginia, U.S. I live in the Appalachian mountains. My family is descended from Ulster Scots that emigrated to America in the early 1700's.

I am planning a trip to Ireland in January 2012. I am traveling with friends, and our interest is to see the region from which our forbears lived before leaving to come to America. My clan of Paxton hailed from Berwickshire before being removed to the Ulster plantation for several generations. So we are going to travel Ulster and we will be staying at the cottage of a stone mason for about ten days. I am also a rock layer by trade.

I have heard that the beaches at Portrush have some knappable flint in them. I want to take a day to go there and see the coast and perhaps gather some flint.

I am wondering if any here have experience of this area. And whether there are any legal problems with gathering a small amount of flint, should I find any.

Thanks in advance.

Pete Davis

I am trying to knap with stone and antler tools in the American traditions. I plan to bring a very few tools with me. Here is my kit:



Here is some knapping:





PD

Some of my stuff:







I am on the right-this was a volunteer project that took five months(as the preceding pic):





My house bridge rebuilt last summer:




My place:



PD

That's some lovely knapping you have there.

A quick google search said it had Limestone cliffs which means chert and also a place called White Rocks made of chalk which seems to have been the base of a prehistoric flint industry.

Just check out the flint embedded in the White Rocks
http://www.geographyinaction.co.uk/Landscapes/Landscapes_WhiteRocks.html

Stuff lying around that has naturally eroded from the cliff is a far as I know is fine. As for getting a pick and removing a nodule from the cliff face may invoke the wrath of the local council as some have passed bye laws forbidding the damaging of rocks. Scotland has done this in areas with rare boulders and England in certain places to protect cliffs from repeated damage by fossil hunters and rock hounds, though these places usually ahve limestone cliffs and minerals. I've never heard chalk or flint being protected.