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Quiet Heroes of New Canaan: Ned Monaghan
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Since 2019, New Canaan’s Ned Monaghan has restored more than 400 feet of historic stone walls at a nature preserve along the Fivemile River. Even creating his own tools to move heavier boulders, Monaghan has worked without fanfare at the New Canaan Land Trust’s Donaldson & Maloney Preserve, according to the nonprofit organization’s executive director, Robin Bates-Mason, who nominated him for this series. Invited by the Monaghan family to see his handiwork, Bates-Mason said she was “amazed by both the scale of what he had accomplished and the dedication behind it.”
“Those who know Ned also know his love of poetry—it’s easy to imagine him reciting a bit of Yeats as he works, stone by stone,” Bates-Mason said in an email. “Just as meaningful, Ned incorporated small openings in the walls to support local wildlife, including weasels he has spotted nearby. The Land Trust is deeply grateful to Ned, who has quietly and independently helped restore these beautiful structures—preserving a tangible link to New England’s past—as well as to the SLOBs and all the volunteers who contribute to this important work.”
Many of the stone walls that Monaghan has restored date to the 18th and even 17th centuries, “when forests were cleared for farmland and stones pulled from the soil were stacked to mark boundaries and contain livestock,” she added.