Historic famine walls at risk of collapse - News - Waterford News & Star

Penny Walls in Portlaw are badly overgrown

Darragh Murphy Twelve-foot-high walls near Portlaw which date back to the famine are in desperate need of maintenance, a local councillor has said.

Known as ‘penny walls’, they were constructed by impoverished locals who were employed by landlords in exchange for a wage of one penny.

On Chapel Hill in Portlaw, such walls have become overgrown with ivy, much to the concern of locals.

Representative from the area, Cllr Declan Clune, raised the issue with Waterford Council’s roads department last week during a meeting.

He said: “There are large walls either side of the road on Chapel Hill, locally known as penny walls. In recent years there has been a huge amount of ivy growth on them. There is a lot of people contacting me out of the blue in the past few weeks with their concerns.

"If any part of the wall is weak and falls down, it will drag larger sections down with it because there is so much ivy.

"In years gone past we would have taken measures to control that growth of ivy. They are historically significant walls and I want to see if we can do something around that."

Maria Goff, Senior Engineer with Waterford City and County Council, said that the local authority will follow up with Coillte with a view to finding a solution.