Geology of Finglas

Fifth Class, Mother of Divine Grace Primary School, Dublin

The first people settled in Ireland about 12,000 years ago.  The oldest rocks in Ireland are in Co. Wexford and they are 2000 million years old. 

One of the commonest rocks found in Ireland is limestone, a sedimentary rock laid down about 300 million years ago during the carboniferous period.

Limestone is the bedrock in Finglas.  In places it is almost 1200 metres thick. 

Limestone is an excellent rock for building and there have been many quarries in the Finglas area.  One of these near Huntstown covers an area of 250 acres and over 5 million tons of rock have been extracted so far.  It is estimated that there is enough limestone in the quarry for another 50 years.