Beaumont Quarry One rarely gets to explore an unused quarry site. However, Beaumont Quarry is one of these rare privileges and one of the most impressive natural amenities in Cork City. The area was historically an active quarry from the middle of the 19th Century, sitting on the property of the Beamish estate. While the adjacent areas in Ballinlough and Ballintemple had many quarries, this was likely one of the more prominent sites due to its size and provided the City with a lot of limestone.
Looking north from Beaumont Quarry’s highest vantage point. On a clear day, this gives a great view to many interesting geoheritage locations visible: the hills of Patrick’s Hill, Montenotte, Tivoli and Glanmire, the River Lee itself and Brickfield Quarry along Lower Glanmire Road.
Today, this industry is gone, but the canyon-like appearance of the area is a testament to the productivity of this quarry. Wild plants and animals have now made the inactive quarry their home and will hopefully continue to do so. An excellent way to appreciate this little wildlife enclave is to have a look - or several - at the rocks! The limestone outcrops are often covered by thick vegetation and much of the rock surface has been weathered. But occasionally a fresh glimpse of the limestone can be discovered, and that is when the rock obsession starts. Here at Beaumont Quarry, it is possible to view both the more featureless limestone without fossils and the fossil-abundant crinoidal limestone.
As with the Japanese Gardens, you can see impressive local examples of karstification in this location as well. Here, deep cracks have formed from karstification of the limestones and allowed other more recent sediments to fill in. In fact, cave systems like the ones near Mitchelstown exist here as well, though these are not as accessible.
Crinoid stem fossils bundled together in the limestone. Each individual stem is about half a centimeter across.
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