Bedrock Geology

The map (left) features the bedrock geology of the South Wexford Coast. As the several different colours suggest, the area has a great diversity of rock types.  Some of the rock types present are among the oldest to be found in Ireland, for example, the rocks exposed on the seashore on both sides of the village of Kilmore Quay date back to some 600 million years ago. Full details together with a legend explaining what the different colours mean is available on the Geological Survey of Ireland public map viewer when the ‘Bedrock Geology 100k’ layer is selected from the ‘Layer List’ at https://dcenr.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=a30af518e87a4c0ab2fbde2aaac3c228. A 1994 map is available here together with an interptetative report.

Geological Heritage

Sites of geological, geomorphological, mining and quarrying interest on the South Wexford Coast are identified by yellow stars and are named on the map below. Further information is contained in the linked PDF file below the map.

Further reading

• A note regarding ‘The Geological Heritage of the South Wexford Coast’
• Individual site reports for the 17 sites of geological, geomorphological, mining and quarrying interest on the South Wexford Coast are available at https://www.gsi.ie/en-ie/publications/Pages/The-Geological-Heritage-of-Wexford.aspx