Leinster – in the east and southeast of Ireland – is a land of rocks that spell out the Palaeozoic history of Britain and Ireland, revealing a north/south divide far, far older than that which has bedevilled politics over the past few centuries, and with a human prehistory even older than the Celts. This highly accessible introductory guide encompasses this fascinating region and also embraces the Waterford coast, where the Ordovician volcanic rocks were described by Geikie as displaying ôperhaps the most wonderful series of volcanic vents within the British Islands.
Across Leinster runs the “suture” that 400 million years ago welded together the wandering continents of North America and Afro-Europe. Their approach was accompanied by enormous volcanic activity and their collision threw up the Caledonian Mountains, the ancient equivalent of the Himalayas, which time and weather eroded and flooded with the warm shallow seas of the Carboniferous period in which limestones full of fossils were deposited and permeated by mineralized solutions that gave the province its zinc and lead deposits – among the richest in the world. Aeons later the retreating glaciers of the Ice Age dumped their sands and gravels on the land. Then man arrived: our Neolithic ancestors who flourished and constructed funerary monuments – Newgrange, Knowth, Dowth – that rival Stonehenge in antiquity and complexity. Eventually the Celts arrived; High Kings lived on the Hill of Tara and the great myths – subsequently recorded in the “Tain” – were born. And so on into historical times, with the early monastic settlements, the Viking, Norman and medieval culture and settlements all making their mark on the landscape.
This book explains the geology of Leinster and leads the geological tourist
to the more accessible sites and outcrops revealing its history. Written
for non-experts, it contains bibliographic references to satisfy the experienced
geologist and is abundantly illustrated with maps, diagrams and photographs.
It also includes plenty of details of the archaeology, history and wildlife
of this varied and fascinating region.
Chris Stillman and George Sevastopulo are members of the Department of Geology,Trinity
College Dublin. ChrisÆs research interests centre on volcanic rocks,
ancient and modern; George has worked extensively on the Carboniferous of
Ireland and its fossils.
Preface, Acknowledgements
Information and itineraries 4
Continents and oceans – the structure of Earth’s
crust; Ireland and plate tectonics; The geology of Leinster; The Upper Palaeozoic
rocks
Introduction; Geological summary; Carlingford and Slieve Gullion; The Boyne River Valley; The coastal localities
Excursions by DART; The Great Sugar Loaf; The northern end of the Leinster Granite
Eastern Wicklow; The Wicklow Mountains
The “Sunny Southeast”; Geological summary;
Waterford coast: Tramore–Stradbally
Further information and reading, Glossary, Index
SERIES: Classic Geology in Europe 6
216×138mm 208pp.
ISBN: 1-903544-13-0 PB £14.95
ISBN-13: 978-1-903544-13-6
Published in 2005
Subject: Earth science: regional geology
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