THE 



GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE, 



NEW SERIES. DECADE II. VOL. I. 



ITo. III.— MARCH, 1874. 



I. — The Leinster Coal-field. 

 By J. McO. Mbadows, F.R.G.S.I., Mining Engineer. 



HAVING been connected with mining works in this district, the 

 writer offers the following particulars in reference to its seams 

 of Coal, and resources for supply of fuel. 



The recent Eoyal Coal Commission estimated the quantity of 

 Coal in the Leinster Coal-field at 75i,000,000 tons. If only two- 

 thirds or 50,000,000 tons be taken as practically available, the 

 quantity is of some importance in connexion with the situation of 

 the field. 



Position and general description. 



If a short journey by rail be made from the Kildare Junction of 

 the Grreat Southern and Western Eailway to Kilkenny, and from 

 Kilkenny by the Central Ireland Line to Maryborough, and from 

 Maryborough back by rail to Kildare, a complete circuit of the 

 district within which the Coal-field is contained will be made. 

 Surrounded on all sides by lines of railway, and although at some 

 points very nearly approached, the Coal-field is, however, without 

 direct railway communication with any of these lines. 



Externally the Coal-district offers a generally uniform character. 

 It consists of a succession of hills, varying from 600 to 1000 feet 

 above the sea-level, which at or near their summits blend one into 

 another, and together form in the interior a tract of undulating 

 country extending over more than 200 square miles. The rivers 

 Dinan and Deehin form the principal drainage lines of the interior, 

 and the fine valleys through which they run in their course to the 

 Nore give a favourable approach from the direction of the City 

 of Kilkenny. 



The greatest length from north to south is upwards of twenty 

 miles, and the greatest width about fifteen miles, the northern 

 portion of the field being in the Queen's County, and the southern 

 in the Co. of Kilkenny. 



The geological formation consists of alternations of stratified sand- 

 stone and shale, forming together, in external shape, an irregularly 

 rounded tract of hill-country, which rests upon the uppermost beds 

 of the Mountain Limestone. 



The lower strata of this formation for a vertical thickness of more 

 than 1000 feet appear to be destitute of workable seams of Coal; 



DECADE II. — VOL. 1. — NO. III. 7 



