Carrick Limestone Quarry

Notes:

This limestone quarry is illustrated as a large opening on the first edition 6 inch OSI map (1837-1842), confirming that it was worked commercially since at least the beginning of the nineteenth century. Producer of the distinctive Edenderry oolitic limestone, this quarry is a possible origin of the stone used in Castletown House (1719-1721). Killane Quarry, also situated in the Edenderry Oolite Member, is another possible source for the original stone at Castletown. At an approx. distance of 1 km from the harbour of the Edenderry Branch of the Grand Canal, the location of Killane Quarry undoubtedly facilitated more cost-effective and convenient transportation of its produce when compared to Carrick Quarry, which is situated approx. 4.5 km north of Edenderry. Limestone was transported by horse and cart from both quarries to the harbour at Edenderry for onward carriage on Grand Canal barges.

Blocks measuring 16 ft in length by 5 ft square have been raised. The quarry face was over 60 ft in height and 400 ft in width and the limestone displayed apparent consistent quality from top to bottom. Bedding was difficult to discern but appeared to be dipping gently to the N-W at about 10°. 30 ft thickness was quarried without any apparent line of separation in the direction of bedding. Both horizontal and vertical jointing were evident, the vertical joints being dominant with units of rock from 3-6 ft in width. In a historical GSI report the quarry site was described as ideal regarding easy access, consistent rock type, absence of groundwater problems, and ample reserves given that Carrick Hill rises over 100 ft and extends in width and length for over 300 yards and 500 yards respectively.

Griffith's Valuation documents Rep. Wm. L. Palmer as the immediate lessor and Henry Mathers as the occupier of the quarry in 1853; the total annual valuation of the quarry at this time was £8. By the 1860s Thomas Burnell was operating the quarry. In the year 1863 Burnell supplied large amounts of stone to builder John Butler who was contracted to re-build St Andrew's Church (CoI), St Andrew's Street, Dublin 2, which had been destroyed by fire in 1860. Butler was paying Burnell by the piece in accordance to the work being executed for the church. In February 1864 Burnell, being pressed by his creditors, could not finance the continuation of work for Butler, so he proposed to Butler to sell him his share in the quarry and the rough stone that was excavated at the time. Butler agreed and on 1st March 1864 the quarry and stone was assigned to him, and he employed Burnell as foreman. However, in 1868 Thomas Burnell drafted an agreement to Fr Daniel Patrick O'Reilly to deliver "the best quality of hammer dressed limestone" for the construction of St Mary of the Angels and Capuchin Friary, Church Street, Dublin 7; he must have resumed his lease of the quarry by this time. Burnells continued to operate a monumental works at Carrick Quarry into the twentieth century operating under the name Burnell & Co. from at least the 1890s through to the 1920s, during which time they also worked out of Monkstown, Co. Dublin. In the 1930s the company name changed to J. Burnell Monumental Sculptor and General Cut Stone Works and it appears the location reverted to Carrick Quarry only. The company continued to operate under the name J. Burnell until the 1950s.

Throughout their period of operations Burnells published compelling advertisements in the Westmeath Guardian and Longford Newsletter and later in the Leinster Leader: "Why Spend Money Lavishly on Foreign White Marble Headstones, that assume the colour of Wet Blanket in a Damp Climate, when you can have Imperishable Native Limestone at One-Third Less Cost, and easily renewed, at the Monumental Works of Burnell & Co., Carrick Quarry, Edenderry." (Westmeath Guardian and Longford Newsletter, 09 August 1907). Evidently a storyteller, Mr J. Burnell relayed a tradition regarding St Colmcille's Stone, a very large stone on the top of Carrick Hill, to local primary school teacher R. Mulholland, who passed the tale on to his students in the 1930s: "It is said that St Colmcille threw the stone from Croghan Hill to Carrick Hill ten miles distant. You can see the imprint of fingers on the stone...".

Carrick Quarry was re-opened in the 2000s for the restoration of Castletown House. Overseen by the OPW, 35 tonnes of Edenderry Limestone was extracted for the project. A proposed development plan by Matt Stones Ltd. for a quarry and associated works at Carrick Road in 2006 was turned down by Offaly County Council and an appeal was refused by An Bord Pleanala on the grounds that it would seriously injure the amenities in the area and depreciate the value of the property in the vicinity, as well as materially contravene a development objective regarding a proposed by-pass. The Carrick quarry remains extant but closed.