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Planet Earth was formed more than 4,500 million years ago. Its journey through geological time is recorded in the rocks, minerals and fossils of the Earth’s crust. The rocks that now make up Ireland are part of that story.
This gallery tells the story of Ireland’s geological odyssey in eleven episodes.
From Ireland’s oldest rocks, found on the tiny island of Inishtrahull, to the vast brown coal deposits that lie beneath Ballymoney, Ireland’s rocks span almost 1800 million years and encompass a huge variety of different types.
Huge chunks of some of these are on display along with other fossils and minerals from Ireland.
Among these are the only dinosaur remains ever found in Ireland, from Island Magee, and a 230-million-year-old fossil footprint in red sandstone from Scrabo Hill.
Image caption: Is this the original Red Hand of Ulster? Front footprint of an extinct reptile found in the red sandstones of Scrabo Hill.
Exhibition information
This exhibition is on display in area 16 of the Nature Zone and is free to attend (download the museum map, PDF 290KB)
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