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Earth Science Conservation Review
| Mullaghsillogagh Quarries, Clabby | Fermanagh |
| Site number: | 202 | File Number: | H45 |
| ESCC: | ED | ||
| Locality Type: | Quarry (disused) | Status: | local interest |
| Grid Reference: | H424503,H421505 Centroid, Not Entered | ||
| Google maps: | 54.4,-7.34714 | ||
| County: | Fermanagh | Council area: | Fermanagh & Omagh District Council |
| Period: | Carboniferous | ||
| Stages: | Arundian, Visean | ||
| Lithostrat: | Ballyshannon Limestone Formation | ||
| Site Description | |
|---|---|
| Highlights: | |
Two disused quarries occur in Mullaghsillogagh Townland, 1.1 and 1.3km east of Clabby. The latter is flooded but exposes richly fossiliferous dark grey packstones; the former smaller, and dry, quarry exposes coarse grainstones with a restricted fauna. This is the best exposure of the Ballyshannon Limestone in Subarea-2. | |
| Description: | |
Quarry A is about 150m long by 50m wide and is largely flooded. Limestones are however accessible at the northwest end and consist of dark grey-blue medium-grained crinoidal sandy packstones with thin silty shale partings which, during the resurvey by the GSNI, yielded a prolific fauna comprising the following forms: Corals: Koninckophyllum sp. (praecursor group) Michelinia megastoma Siphonophyllia sp. Sychnoelasma konincki Syringopora cf. geniculata S. cf. ramulosa 'Zaphrentis kentensis' Brachiopods: Athyris sp. Linoproductus sp. hemisphaerica group Megachonetes sp. papilionaceus group This fauna compares very closely with that recovered from the mid-Arundian Dalton Beds of the Furness and Grange area in northwest England. An abundant microbiota includes the foraminifera Dainella, Eoparastaffella and Florenella but the absence of archaediscids is more significant and indicates a late Chadian age. Quarry B occurs some 250m northwest of the main quarry and comprises a single face about 4-5m high. All the limestone are medium fawn, very coarse grainstones (? oolitic) without shale partings and contain an impoverished fauna dominated by the brachiopod cf. Composita ambigua and rare specimens of Linoproductus sp. hemisphaerica group and the tabulate coral Syringopora cf. reticulata. The different lithologies that occur in these 2 quarries at Mullaghsillogagh are directly comparable to those occurring in the lower and middle portions of the Ballyshannon Limestone in subarea-1, on the southwest shore of Lower Lough Erne. Because of the poor exposure in much of this outcrop of the formation in the Clogher Valley it is not possible to trace the extent of the various lithologies. | |
| Interpretation: | |
There is no significant difference in the lithological composition, and the macrofaunal elements, of the Ballyshannon Limestone Formation exposed in the 2 quarries at Mullaghsillogagh, near Clabby. The limestones were both deposited in fully marine conditions although the grainstones that occur in quarry B are clearly the product of shallow turbulent water. | |
| Conclusions: | |
The best exposure of the Ballyshannon Limestone Formation in Subarea-2 is in the quarries at Mullaghsillogagh, east of Clabby, Co. Fermanagh. A definitive microbiota of late Chadian age occurs in the top bed of the large flooded quarry. | |
| Notes: | |
For information on other sites in Subarea-2 see; Key Site 1175 - Subarea-2; Lisnaskea-Fivemiletown. | |
| Keywords | |
|---|---|
| Rocks: | Limestone, Shale |
| Fossil Groups: | Brachiopod, Coral, Foraminifera |
| Fossil List: | Composita ambigua, Siphonophyllia sp. |
| Relations: | Marine sediments |
| Access | |
|---|---|
| Approach: | Two disused quarries occur in Mullaghsillogagh Townland, 1.1 and 1.3km east of Clabby. |
| Record type: | ESCR report | ||
| Entered by: | Doughty, P.J. | ||
| Enlander, I., Dempster, M. & Doughty, P., 2026. Mullaghsillogagh Quarries, Clabby, County Fermanagh, site details. [In] Earth Science Conservation Review. https://www.habitas.org.uk/escr/site.php?item=202. Accessed on 2026-11-06. |
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