Kinahan — On Irish Marbles and Limestones. 437 



neighbourhood of Clones and Monaghan are situated in such low 

 ground that they are liable to be flooded, and are, therefore, too 

 expensive to work. The best quarries suitable for cut-stone purposes 

 are in the neighbourhood of Carrickmaeross. 



Barley Hill. Five miles from Carrickmaeross. — Dark bluish- 

 grey ; hard ; well suited for tool-work, but rather difficult to work. 



Lime good, but often dark-coloured. 



Queen's County. 



Carboniferous limestones occupy the central portion of this 

 county. In some places the stone is of very good quality, but in 

 others it is inferior, being of a Calpy type. 



Stradbally. — Light brownish-grey to grey; close-grained; well 

 suited for cut- stone purposes. Has been largely used in this and 

 the neigbouring county of Kildare. In all the public buildings 

 at Maryborough it has been used ; also at Monasterevan and else- 

 where. 



Dunamase. Two miles from Stradbally. — Grey ; compact ; 

 slightly splintery ; but otherwise a good stone. 



Spire Mill. — Five miles from Mountmellick. Grrey ; oolitic ; 

 slightly silicious ; does not work freely. 



Thombury (Abbeyleix) . — Dark greyish-blue ; silicious, and 

 difficult to work. 



Ballyullen. One mile from Abbeyleix. — Grreyish-blue. This 

 is kinder and more easily worked than the Thornbury stone, and 

 is more generally used in Abbeyleix. 



Portarlington. — Good stone for rough work ; quarried in dif- 

 ferent places, but not approved of for tool- work. 



Graigue. On the edge of the county, a suburb of Carlow. — 

 The quarries here were principally worked for marble. The asso- 

 ciated stones being burnt for lime. 



Lime very good, cheap, and abundant. 



Eoscommon. 



Nearly the whole of this county is occupied by Carboniferous 

 limestone, only some very subordinate tracts of older rocks appear- 

 ing up through it. The rocks are very varied in character, from 

 bad Calpy stones to those of the Burren type. There are, however? 



