FOSSIL SITES IN IRELAND - Section 3-2 - County Clare - Burren - Mississippian

Contents - Fossils sites in Ireland

Section 1-1 - Fossil collecting in Ireland
Section 1-2 - Where are the dinosaurs?
Section 1-3 - The good news

Section 2-1 - Precambrian/Cambrian
Section 2-2 - Ordovician
Section 2-3 - Silurian
Section 2-4 - Devonian
Section 2-5 - Carboniferous/Mississippian
Section 2-6 - Carboniferous/Pennsylvanian

Chapter 3 - Fossil sites in Ireland
Section 3-4 - County Sligo - Streedagh Point - Mississippian 

Resources  


Chapter 3 - Fossil sites in Ireland

by Jutta Kruse, version April 2025

This chapter gives examples of fossil specimens from several sites in Ireland. Each location is covered in a separate section. Full citations at Resources.

The locations are relatively easy to find, accessible and open to the public.

Visits to all locations are taken at your own risk. Coastal rocks can be very slippery at times, especially when wet. Winds, tides and large waves add risk factors. Please inform yourself on local conditions and always be safe.

Please leave fossils in Ireland where you find them. Search, find, identify, photograph and post them online, but do not specify the exact location where they were found to protect them from damage.

If you spot any errors or omissions, please let me know, Jutta at info@fossils.ie

Images ⓒ Jutta Kruse unless otherwise noted.

Section 3-2 - County Clare - Burren - Mississippian

Fig. 3-2.1 - Location of the Burren region, county Clare.



The Burren region in county Clare is famous for its karst. The karst was formed from Mississippian limestone through faulting and erosion (Overview of the Mississippian period in Ireland: Holland & Sanders, 2009, Chapters 10 & 11), (Overview of karst in Ireland: Drew, 2018).

Fig. 3-2.2 - Typical karst features of the southern Burren region, Poulsallagh Bay, Ballyryan.



The fossils in the Burren are typical of the Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous) in Ireland: corals, brachiopods, crinoids, bryozoans, gastropods, etc. (Meere et al., 2020, pp 181-193) (Best & Wignall, 2016, pp 79-96). In some places the fossils are ground and crushed almost beyond recognition, but in other places very well preserved specimens can be found. Just a reminder: the geology, flora and fauna of the Burren and Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark are very strictly protected.

Large brachiopods are abundant at Poulsallagh in the southern Burren (Overview of brachiopods Digital Atlas of Ancient Life).

Fig. 3-2.3 - Brachiopod Gigantoproductus from the Mississippian of the southern Burren at Poulsallagh.


Fig. 3-2.4 - Brachiopods from the Mississippian of the southern Burren at Poulsallagh.



Solitary and colonial rugose corals are common fossils in the Burren (Overview of rugose corals at the Digital Atlas of Ancient Life) 

Corals are particularly well displayed in the northern Burren, for example in the limestones at the Flaggy Shore, New Quay.

Fig. 3-2.5 - Coral colony in a Mississippian boulder at the Flaggy Shore, county Clare.


Fig. 3-2.6 - Coral colonies in a Mississippian boulder at the Flaggy Shore, northern Burren.


Fig. 3-2.7 - Part-eroded, colonial rugose coral at the Flaggy Shore, northern Burren.


Fig. 3-2.8 - Weathered colonial coral at the Flaggy Shore, northern Burren.


Fig. 3-2.9 - Karst platform (dark grey limestone) with clints and grikes filled with carbonate-cemented sand (raised, linear sand features) on Fanore beach.


Fig. 3-2.10 - Colonial, tabulate coral Syringopora in Mississippian limestone karst on Fanore beach.


Fig. 3-2.11 - Colonial, cerioid coral in Mississippian limestone karst on Fanore beach.


Fig. 3-2.12 - Colonial, cerioid coral in Mississippian limestone karst on Fanore beach. 1-Euro coin for scale.


Fig. 3-2.13 - Gastropod in Mississippian limestone karst on Fanore beach. 1-Euro coin for scale.


Fig. 3-2.14 - Colonial, tabulate coral Syringopora and brachiopod in Mississippian limestone karst on Fanore beach. 1-Euro coin for scale.


Fig. 3-2.15 - Solitary, rugose coral (?) in Mississippian limestone karst on Fanore beach.