158 [Proc. B.N.F.C., 



quarried at Tardree Hill, and is largely used for door steps, gate 

 posts, window dressings, and for headstones in country graveyards. 

 As the stone is durable and easily worked, it answers exceedingly 

 well for such purposes, though, owing to its coarse texture, it is 

 less suitable for finer work. The occasional occurrence of small 

 cavities, due to the presence of soft or earthy spots, somewhat 

 interferes also with its value in this respect, but for ordinary 

 building purposes it is well suited. The occurrence of this 

 material in a wide district that is devoid of freestone is a matter 

 of some consequence to the locality. These quarries at one time 

 supplied curbstones for the streets of Belfast, and the Tardree 

 stone was also used to some extent in the construction of the 

 Queen's Bridge, and of the bridge over the Cave Hill Railway on 

 the Antrim Road. The question of the geological age of the 

 porphyry, as compared with that of the trappean rocks surrounding 

 it, is one on which there has been some difference of opinion. The 

 district has lately been examined by the officers of the Geological 

 Survey, and their observations show that the trachyte-porphyry is 

 older than any of the basalts which surround it. As the latter 

 have been determined, by the plant remains found in the iron ore 

 beds at Ballypalliday, and also by other evidence, to be of Miocene 

 age, we may assign the period of the eruption of the porphyry to 

 at least later Eocene times. After examining the quarry on the 

 south side of Tardree, the hill was crossed, and another exposure 

 on the north side investigated; then, taking the cars again, the 

 return journey was commenced, the route being by way of Carn- 

 earny Mountain. On arriving at the north-east side of the hill, 

 the party began the ascent on foot, the cars being sent forward to 

 meet them on their descent on the other side. The monumental 

 earn on the top (from which the hill derives its name, Carnearny, 

 i.e., the Cam of Eire) was soon reached, and here a meeting was 

 held and several new members elected. The view from this cam 

 is one of the most picturesque and extensive which can be had in the 

 county. To the south- east are seen the slopes of the Belfast Hills, 

 extending from Divis to Carn money, and lying behind them 



