Muckross Red Marble

Notes:

A red to pink conglomeratic marble containing disarticulated crinoids, bands of red to russet clays, calcite pebbles; stylolitic and showing evidence of dissolution. Utilised by Thomas Herbert for the floor of the hall of Muckross House erected in 1770, but now demolished (McCoole 2005). In the present Muckross House the stone is used for walling of the kitchen yard and for paving in paths and in the sunken garden. Also used for Muckross Church and the gate lodge to the Muckross estate are constructed of this material. "The stone does not break into large blocks, but which makes, nevertheless, a solid wall, the blocks from their roughness binding well with the mortar." (Wright et al. 1927, p. 28). Lixnaw House, Co. Kerry, erected in the early 1700s but now demolished, contained chimneypieces of the marble as reported by the naturalist Samuel Molyneux in 1709 (Knightly 2010, p. 41; Barry 2015, p. 56).