Connemara marble is over 600 million years old. It is only found in Connemara. It has been a traded item since prehistoric times as is evident from a carved green marble spearhead dating from 2000 years ago which was excavated in Suffolk in the United kingdom. Dating from the Pre-Cambrian era, Connemara marble is a metamorphic rock formed when limestone was heated under pressure, producing a hard granular rock. The Connemara metamorphic complex, of which the marbles are part, is part of a belt of rocks extending from the Appalachian Mountains, through Ireland, Scotland and into Norway. Connemara marble has a unique green colour, and its distinctive swirling veins of green, sepia and grey with the added sparkle of crystalline mica. It has the following chemical components: 60% Dolomite (CA, Mg(CO3)2) 36% Mica and serpentine (Mg3Si2(OH)4) 02% Calcite (CACO3) It has been a traded item since prehistoric times as is evident from a carved green marble spearhead dating from 2000 years ago which was excavated in Suffolk in the United kingdom. Today it is a valuable export from Connemara. It is available in large dimensional slabs suitable for buildings as well as for smaller pieces of jewellery. It is used for the pendant for the Scouting Ireland Chief Scout s Award, the highest award in Irish Scouting. In 1903, King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra visited a Connemara Marble quarry during the Royal Tour of Connemara. Today, the marble of Connemara can be found in the world s great monuments. In the halls of Trinity College Dublin, on the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, in Kensington Palace and in some of America s finest buildings.
