to the Mineral Structure of the South of Ireland. 175 



I shall next advert to Mr. Weaver's observations respecting 

 my section which extends from Brandon bay, at the extremity 

 of the peninsula of Dingle in the county of Kerry, in an east- 

 ern direction across the Cahirconree or Slieve Meesh range 

 of mountains, thence traversing the limestone valley of Castle 

 island, and terminating in the great millstone grit of Munster*. 



Of this section, Mr. Weaver observes, " That the portion 

 which more immediately claims attention, is that which ex- 

 tends from the summit of the old red sandstone of the Slieve 

 Meesh range, to the carboniferous limestone of Castle island. 

 The former is represented as constituting nearly a cap or 

 sheet, formed on an inclined plane, from west to east, the 

 strata corresponding and succeeding each other in that di- 

 rection to the junction with the carboniferous limestone." 

 Mr. Weaver further observes, that he " knows of no such 

 arrangement; on the contrary, the strata of the old red sand- 

 stone are accumulated to a great depth, and certainly, in some 

 quarters, at least to the level of the sea, being disposed in a 

 gently arched form from north to south." 



In the latter observation Mr. Weaver is perfectly correct : 

 in fact, the Slieve Meesh or Cahirconree range may be com- 

 pared to a semicone, having its base to the west and apex 

 to the east ; the western base presents a precipitous escarp- 

 ment, the lower region of which is occupied by highly-in- 

 clined strata, consisting of dark gray clayslate, which on the 

 outer edges alternates with purple clayslate ; the nearly up- 

 right ends of these strata are covered by a series of uncon- 

 fornmble beds of compact red sandstone and red conglomerate, 

 alternating with coarse red slate ; near the summit, these 

 strata present a nearly horizontal arrangement, in a north 

 and south direction, but they dip to the eastward at a mode- 

 rate angle. On approaching the declivities of the cone, both 

 to the north and south, the conglomerate strata dip rapidly, 

 on the one side, towards Tralee bay, and on the other, towards 

 the bay of Castlemaine. From the summit, the eastern dip is 

 continued towards the apex of the cone at Currens ; but the 

 lower bed, which rests on the ends of the transition slate, 

 does not continue to form the surface, but dipping more ra- 

 pidly to the eastward than the ridge of the hill, it is succeeded 

 by a number of beds of conglomerates and coarse slate, each 

 cropping out to the westward. At the eastern extremity of 

 the range, or the apex of the cone, the upper portion of the 

 red slate and conglomerate series is succeeded in a conform- 

 able position by beds of fine-grained yellowish-gray sandstone 

 * See Journal of the Geological Society of Dublin, vol. ii., part 1. 



