20 
THE HALL. 
shire ; Portsoy, Banffshire ; Dalmore, Sutherland ; Oban and 
Mull, Argyleshire; Tiree, Hebrides; and Craignair, Kirkcud- 
brightshire. 
* © 
Granites of Ireland. — Base of Sides in Vestibule. Column , 
No. 6. Cubes in Table Case III. 
The granite rocks of Ireland occur in four districts, namely, 
in Wicklow and Wexford, in the south-east ; in Down and 
Armagh, in the north-east ; in Donegal, in the north-west ; 
and in Galway and Mayo, in the west. 
The most extensive granite district in Ireland, and indeed in 
the whole of the British Islands* stretches south from Dublin, 
through the counties of Wicklow and Carlow into Kilkenny 
and Wexford, occupying an area 70 miles in length, and from 7 
to 17 miles in width. The granite of the Wicklow range is the 
most extensively used. It varies in its quality, that near 
Kingstown being coarse and hard, while that from Ballyknockin 
or Golden Hill is much finer, and therefore fitted for ornamental 
work. 
The Dalkey quarries, at Killiney, near Dublin, yielded 
enormous quantities for the harbour and pier of Kingstown* 
and for numerous buildings in and around Dublin. It has also 
been employed in the Thames Embankment. 
Passing to the north-east of Ireland we find granitic rocks, 
forming three distinct tracts in the mountain ranges of Mourne, 
of Carlingford, and of Slieve Croob. The granite of Newry has 
been extensively quarried, and sent by water to the north of 
Ireland, and elsewhere. The Bessbrook quarries, near Newry, 
yield a well-known grey granite. A quarry at Ballymagreehan, 
near Castlewellan, yielded much of the granite used for the base, 
the pedestal, and steps of the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park. 
In Galway at least two varieties of granites have been 
recognised, but the characteristic Galway granite is a handsome 
porphyritic rock with large crystals of red orthoclase. This rock 
has been quarried at Furbogh, eight miles from Galway, and a 
column (No. 6), showing the appearance of the granite when 
polished, will be found in the Hall. The granites of Donegal 
have never been worked on a large scale. 
The following Irish localities are represented in the collection : 
— Kingstown, Killiney, Dalkey, Kilgobbin, and Glencullen, co. 
Dublin ; Glenaree and Ballyknockin, co. Wicklow ; Ballyholland* 
near Newry, co. Down ; and Galway. 
Porphyries. Elvans. Greenstone. 
Under the common term of Porphyry are sometimes grouped 
together all rocks in which distinct crystals are embedded in a 
finer-grained ground-mass; the term thus referring rather to 
the physical structure of the rock than to any more essential 
