VOL. LXXXVI.3 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. 679 



IV. A Mineralogicnl Account of the Native Gold lately discovered in Ireland. 



By Abraham Mills, Esq. p. 38. 

 The extraordinary circumstance of native gold being found in this vicinity, 

 (Cronebane copper mines, near Rathdrum), early excited my attention, and led 

 me to seize the first opportunity that offered, to inspect the place where the 

 discovery was made. The workings which the peasantry recently undertook, are 

 on the N. E. side of the mountain Croughan Kinshclly, within the barony of 

 Arklow, and county of Wicklow, on the lands of the Earl of Carysfort, where 

 the Earl of Ormond claims a right to the minerals, in consequence, it seems, of 

 a grant in the reign of King Henry the 2d, by Prince John, during his com- 

 mand of his father's forces in Ireland; which grant was renewed and confirmed 

 by Queen Elizabeth, and again by King Charles the 2d. 



The summit of the mountain is the boundary between the counties of Wick- 

 low and Wexford; 7 English miles west from Arklow, 10 to the south-westward 

 of Rathdrum, and 6 south-westerly from Cronbane mines; by estimation about 

 6oo yards above the level of the sea. It extends w. by n. and e. by s., and 

 stretches away to the north-eastward, to Baliycoage, where shafts have formerly 

 been sunk, and some copper and magnetic iron ore has been found; and thence 

 to the N. E. there extends a tract of mineral country, 8 miles in length, run- 

 ning through the lands of Ballymurtagh, Bally gahan, Tigrony, Cronbane, Con- 

 nery, and Kilmacoe, in all of which veins of copper ore are found; and termi- 

 nating at the slate quarry at Balnabarny. 



On the highest part of the mountain are bare rocks, being a variety of argillite, 

 whose joints range n. n. e. and s. s. w., hade to the s. s. w., and in one part in- 

 clude a rib of quartz, 3 inches wide, which follows the direction of the strata. 

 Around the rocks, for some distance, is sound ground, covered with heath; des- 

 cending to the eastward, there is springy ground, abounding with coarse grass; 

 and below that, a very extensive bog, in which the turf is from 4 to Q feet thick, 

 and beneath it, in the sub-stratum of clay, are many angular fragments of quartz, 

 containing chlorite, and ferruginous earth. Below the turbary the ground fails 

 with a quick descent, and 3 ravii;es are observed. The central one, which is 

 the most considerable, has been worn by torrents, which derive their source from 

 the bog; the others are formed lower down the mountain by springs, which 

 uniting with the former, below their junction the gold has been found. The 

 smaller have not water sufficient to wash away the incumbent clay, so as to lay 

 bare the sub-stratum ; and their beds only contain gravel, consisting of quartz 

 with chlorite, and other substances of which the mountain consists. The great 

 ravine presents a more interesting aspect; the water in its descent has, in a very 

 short distance from the bog, entirely carried off the clay, and considerably worn 

 down the sub-strata of rock, which it has laid open to inspection. 



