Co. Galway - Connemara Marble

A large block of Connemara Marble

On one of the many Friday nights spent at Ryans Beggars Bush public house, one of the directors of the Geological Survey of Ireland and his wife, who lived in Galway, both said that I must visit Connemara before I left Ireland.

Streamstown Quarry

Between coming back from Monaghan and going back to Rotherham, there were only 9 days and so, without delay, I headed off to Streamstown Quarry.

By now, I thought that I had got used to planning my journeys in Ireland but, this time, I got it completely wrong. As the crow flies, the distance to the city of Galway is 195 km, but the drive seemed endless and, by the time that I arrived in Galway, I knew that I would have to change my late afternoon appointment to the next morning.

Stopping very briefly at the Connemara Marble Showroom, to introduce myself to the owners of the Streamstown Quarry, I headed off again to Clifden, where I would spend the night.

A general view of the landscape at Streamstown Quarry

Once I had left the city of Galway, I encountered a bleak landscape. Here the Galway Granite is relatively low lying and strewn with small lakes – another legacy of the erosional power of the ice that once covered Ireland.

With the afternoon light starting to fade, and with the darkest clouds that I had ever seen rolling in from the Atlantic Ocean, the Twelve Bens loomed into view. Forming part of the Connemara National Park, this was one of the most dramatic sights that I have seen. 

Once a supplier of large quantities of beautiful green Connemara Marble for interior decoration, Streamstown Quarry now only produces relatively small amounts of stone to make jewellery and other gifts. Although, the rain had kept away the previous evening, the clouds had descended on the hills and, whether it was trudging through boggy peat to map the quarry boundaries or trying to peer down into the quarry, I had a very damp experience.

Blocks of Connemara Marble at Recess Quarry

Many of the access ways to the working quarry face looked a little bit rickety to me and it was very obvious that this place had seen much better days; however, some fine products are still made from the stone produced here and it fully deserves its status as a County Geological Site.

A Worry Stone

With my work finished, I took a very quick tour of part of the Connemara National Park, stopped briefly to photograph some raw blocks of Connemara Marble from the Recess Quarry, whose colours differ quite considerably from those seen at Streamstown Quarry, and headed back to Galway, where some fine examples of Connemara Marble can be seen in the cathedral floor.

Connemara Marble from Recess and Streamstown and Cork Red Marble

Taking time to visit the Connemara Marble Showroom again, I bought a couple of presents to take home and was presented with a small gift - a worry stone -  before the long drive back to Dublin.

Co. Armagh and Co. Monaghan

The Boyne Valley in the Ice Age

Driving from Newgrange to Newry, to pick up the latest edition of ES2k magazine from a colleague at the Northern Ireland branch of the British Geological Survey, our meeting in the very large car park of an out of town shopping centre was quite memorable.

With a mobile phone, to give directions – and sticking our hands high into the air – we finally found each other and, as always in Ireland, this brief encounter was full of good humour.

During my previous visit to Northern Ireland, I had been very conscious about crossing the border and, laughing to myself now, I could imagine what the security cameras might of thought of this meeting during the time of “the troubles” - if they had seen such an exchange of heavy boxes from van to van.

With this transaction between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland successfully negotiated, I headed off to Monaghan - crossing this border again. I had set off from Dublin in one of the small Renault Kangoo vans, having been assured that it was capable of carrying the load that I was about to collect.

Driving up and around some remarkable drumlins, on roads that were not always in the very best condition, I am very sure that the back axle was given a comprehensive mechanical test.

Caves and Limestone Scenery in Northern Ireland

Having safely delivered my cargo, I returned to Dublin by the quickest route. I have since reflected on the way that an interest in the geology of the island of Ireland has no political boundaries and there is much collaboration between the south and north - which has resulted in very many good publications and other initiatives that are aimed at the Geotourist.

When Finnian O’Connor – the student intern who shared my office – asked me to photograph some of the very many Geotourism booklets and leaflets held in the basement of the GSI, to include in his final report to the head of the Heritage and Planning section, I was more than happy to help. 

 

A selection of Geotourism leaflets held at the GSI

Co. Meath - Newgrange

Volcanic breccia at Newgrange

Now that the Dublin Stone Show had been successfully completed and I had finished the reports on the County Geological Sites that I had surveyed, I was at a bit of a loss what to do next. When asked if I could collect the latest edition of ES2k, I jumped at the chance.

Building stones

Knowing that the 275 km round trip, from Dublin to Co. Armagh and Co. Monaghan and back, would take most of the day and that there wouldn’t be enough time to carry out field survey work, I made the most of the opportunity to relax - and went to see Newgrange. 

Older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids, its restoration – after many centuries of neglect and recycling of the stones that were originally used in its construction – proved very controversial amongst archaeologists and antiquarians.

From the viewpoint of a geologist, I found it fascinating - another case for the Geological Detective.

In Co. Meath, along with every other place that I visited in Ireland, the power of the vast ice sheets that once covered the British Islands is clearly demonstrated by its spectacular mountain landscapes – but around the River Boyne, the recent geology gently fades into history.
 

A view of Newgrange

Using my Heritage Ireland membership card, I enjoyed the traditional tourist experience of entering its interior and appreciating its great significance but, with a limited amount of time on my hands to get to Newry, I had to skip the visitor centre and move on.

I did have enough time, however, to have a very quick look at the principal building stones and the remnants of the circle of standing stones that once surrounded this monument.

The underlying bedrock in the area is Carboniferous limestone, with Carboniferous sandstone and Silurian rocks, but the large cobbles that can be seen in its front - and are perceived to faithfully reproduce the original source – have been brought in from river terraces and the coast.

The entrance to Newgrange

The highly decorated foundation stones are mainly Silurian greywacke sandstone from the Clogher Head Formation, and the deeply weathered condition of the stones themselves indicate that they are large glacial erratics, which have been found on the ground and not quarried.

Rock Art

Looking very quickly at the standing stones, the purple rocks are obviously volcanic and their origin could only be the Mourne Mountains - of Tertiary age; there are also other large rough blocks of greywacke sandstone and Carboniferous limestone, amongst other kinds of rocks...

A few views of standing stones at Newgrange

The Dublin Stone Show

Building Stone in Ireland

In the 2 months since I had volunteered to produce the GSI stand at the inaugural Dublin Stone Show, I had seen a lot of the geology of Ireland and its associated ancient monuments and historic buildings and I now felt well prepared for this unique event.

Niahm Redmond and Matthew Parkes at the GSI trade exhibition stand

Working with Niahm Redmond, our role was principally to promote the GSI’s expertise in petrographic analysis and sourcing of building stones for the repair of the nation’s historic stone monuments, as well as various support services to the quarrying industry.

Held over 2 days at the Citywest Hotel, on the outskirts of Dublin, the venue was perhaps more suited to general conferences than an international stone show and the decor was a distraction from the exhibits themselves; however, it proved to be a well attended event – by both exhibitors and a wide variety of visitors from all over the world.

Although much smaller in scale than similar events that I had attended in London, a full range of materials and products were on display. From Ireland, there were several suppliers of Irish Blue Limestone, Liscannor Stone and Donegal Quartzite, whose riven texture makes it especially good for paving and internal flooring, where a non-slip surface is required.

From the UK, a few major stone suppliers exhibited a wide range of sandstones and, as usual at these events, a wide variety of polished granites and marbles and other stones from all over the world were on display, with German and Italian stone producers featuring prominently.

Jura limestone from Germany

 

Manning the stand for most of the days, and answering questions from a wide variety of professionals and members of the general public, I didn’t have much opportunity to talk to the various exhibitors, except to introduce my friend Giovanni to the suppliers of Irish Blue Limestone. 

Having stayed in Dublin for 2 months in the summer, to learn English, he had come back especially to this event to source potential suppliers of this stone for his own stonemasonry business back in Florence.

Un tavolo in pietra lavica ceramizzata

At the end of the event, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that he had been talking to a supplier of Mt. Etna basalt from Sicily who, at the end of the event, had decided to leave their products behind and that I could have anything that I wanted. 

Taking advantage of this "once in a blue moon" opportunity, a phone call was all that was needed, before a helping hand arrived. The ceramicised basalt table now takes pride of place in my living room and the slabs add continental flavour to the garden of my supervisor.

A couple of days after, the director came up to me and congratulated me on the success of the Dublin Stone Show. Whilst very happy to know that our efforts were appreciated, I felt a little embarrassed, because shortly after arriving at the GSI, he had come up to me and introduced himself. Having seen so many new faces and so many new offices, I just blurted out “haven’t we already met?”. It was not my best introduction to a new boss! 

A report on the Dublin Stone Show