James Mitchell Geology Museum

Introduction   History   Collections   Pictorial Tour   Current Status

The Museum's Collections

Mineral and rock collections:

The collection presently consists of 1725 mineral specimens and 1587 rock specimens. The displays reflect in part orthodox classification schemes that highlight mineral and rock species and their varieties from a geographical spread of global dimensions. They include a comprehensive range of mineral and rock specimens from Ireland and in particular from Galway Cityís world renowned Connemara and Burren hinterlands. They can be viewed in the special displays featuring west of Ireland geology. The display entitled the Rocks of Connemara for example, is where specimens of the world famous Connemara Marble take centre stage. The marble which has been quarried from several localities in Connemara has been used for ornamental and decorative work. Marble from the Streamstown quarry near Clifden was used to pave the chancels of the Cathedrals of Truro (1886), Peterborough (1892) and Bristol (1895), as well as the steps of Worcester Cathedral (1877). In Cambridge it was used in the pillars of the Chapel of St. John's College (1869), and the presbytery of Great St. Mary's Church. Today the marble is primarily used in the production of jewellery and ornaments. The Dave Mc Dougall Mineral Collection is focused on the wide range of minerals found in the Connemara region. Twenty eight different minerals in various combinations are featured here. This mineral collection is also testimony to a very active mineral extraction industry in Connemara during the mid to late 19th century. In 1990 the Department of Geology, UCG, received a significant collection of
minerals and gemstones from Frau Ellen Bruecke (nee Eleanor Miles), Brodenkirchen, Germany. The entire collection has now been incorporated into the Museum as a permanent display. The 172 specimens which include uncut samples of diamond, ruby,
sapphire and topaz come from Europe, North and South America, Africa and India. 

Fossil collections:

The museum has over five thousand fossil specimens from many parts of the world, including some type and figured material. The core of the fossil collection is the type, figured and backup material for William Kingís Monograph of the Permian Fossils
of England published by the Palaeontographical Society in 1850. A wide range of invertebrate fossils (corals, sponges, sea-lilies, sea-urchins, trilobites, insects, crustaceans, molluscs, brachiopods and graptolites) from the Cambrian Period to the
present day and evidence of their modes of life are displayed. West of Ireland shelly faunas from the Silurian rocks of Kilbride and the Carboniferous Limestone to the east around Lough Mask are well represented in the collections. Brachiopods from
Kilbride and Lough Mask are compared in display form with a collection of Recent species dredged from the seabed of Galway Bay. Reconstructions of Silurian and Carboniferous seafloors illustrate the diversity of life around Galway during these periods in environments quite different from those today. The south facing wall of the museum holds framed specimens of the large Jurassic marine reptiles Ichthyosaurus from Holzmaden, Germany and Plesiosaurus from Lyme Regis, England. These have been recently joined by some replicas of Cretaceous dinosaurs from the Isle of Wight, including the skulls of Megalosaurus and Iguanodon and a complete Hypsilophodon.

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