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quarrying

quarrying

The Oxford Companion to Irish History | 2007 | Copyright

quarrying in Ireland has mainly produced slate, granite, and limestone. Irish slate stood at a huge commercial disadvantage to the mass outpouring from north Wales, especially of the omnipresent ‘Bangor Blue’. Nevertheless Clasnasmuth quarry, near Carrick‐on‐Suir, was famed for the decorative effect of its rich green slate. Similar slate was quarried at Kilmoganny, Co. Kilkenny. Killaloe, near Limerick, provided a rich supply of roofing slates. ‘Carlow Flags’, from the extremely durable, fine‐grained bedded sandstones of the Upper Carboniferous age, were quarried in south‐west Clare and Co. Kilkenny. Carboniferous slate was also raised near Clonakilty, Co. Cork. A particularly firm, tough slate, quarried at Valentia Island, was used for large flags and slabs.

Sandstone was used in main buildings in the cities, some of the very best being quarried in Cos. Donegal and Fermanagh. Mount Charles stone, from Co. Donegal, could be used in delicate moulded work. However, soft Triassic sandstone was not suitable in the corrosive atmosphere of big cities. Nevertheless the sandstone quarry at Scrabo, Co. Down, was an important working, which provided stone for Belfast in the late 1880s, notably in the Robinson Cleaver building.

The problem of atmospheric corrosion in cities was solved by the use of granite and other hard igneous rocks. Granite, from the Leinster chain, was used in the basement‐course of many dwellings in Dublin, which were completed in brick. It also provided façades and ornamentation in the construction of more prestigious buildings. In the 19th century granite from the Newry‐Bessbrook area competed successfully, in the London building market, with the better‐known Aberdeen and Peterhead granite. The quarry, on the estate of Viscount Charlemont, supplied granite blocks, not only to the nearby model linen village of Bessbrook, but also the town hall in Manchester and the great steps of St George's Hall, Liverpool.

Limestone is widely available in Ireland. Its main ingredient is calcite. Deposits of high purity are not so common. Lime is a by‐product after kilning. Most limestone is used for aggregate, roadstone, and cement manufacture. This has increased massively this century. Ground limestone is used in agriculture. Almost all quarries are in the carboniferous limestone areas, although chalk is exploited in Ulster. Limestone was traditionally used for building. The grey carboniferous type, best exemplified by the uniform, fine‐grained variety of Roscommon, was used for large structures and decoration. The shaly black limestone, known as ‘calp’, was only suitable for common walls, as it did not weather out equally along its planes of stratification. More recently, the building industry has used hydrated lime. Smaller amounts of limestone have been used in a wide variety of industries, from glass and chemicals to foodstuffs.

Bauxite, which is an important ore of aluminium, is usually mined. It was discovered in Co. Antrim and as the only source in the British Isles was mined extensively at Clinty, near Ballymena, from the outbreak of the Second World War.

Nowadays most quarrying is for road building.

Peter Collins
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"quarrying." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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quarrying

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2008 | Copyright

quarrying open, or surface, excavation of rock used for various purposes, including construction, ornamentation, road building, and as an industrial raw material. Rock that has been quarried is commonly called stone. Quarrying methods depend chiefly on the desired size and shape of the stone and its physical characteristics. For industrial use (e.g., limestone for preparing cement), as the aggregate in concrete, or for road beds, the rock is shattered. Explosives are detonated in a series of holes drilled in the rock in a pattern designed to yield the greatest amount of fracturing. The rock fragments may be further reduced in crushing machines and sorted according to size by screening. For building stone, rocks that do not shatter are separated by blasting; for softer rocks or when explosives cannot be used (e.g., because they would disturb adjacent workings), a process known as broaching, or channeling, is used. In this process a line of holes is drilled perpendicular to the joints or cleavage planes of a formation; wedges are inserted into the holes and hammered until the stone splits off. This method was probably used in ancient times, notably by the Incas and the Egyptians. Much quarrying of ornamental stone today is done by using pneumatically operated channelers. After the vertical cuts have been made, gadding machines (working on the same principle) are used to make horizontal cuts. Wedges are then used to split off the long blocks, which are subdivided and removed. Wire saws are also used; these consist of several pulleys over which passes an endless steel wire. Holes are drilled in the rock, each hole being made large enough to accommodate a pulley and the shaft to which it is attached. The wire, extending from one pulley to another, presses down against the rock between them. As the cut is deepened by the constantly moving wire the pulleys are continuously lowered into the holes.

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Quarry

Allusions--Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary | 1986 | Copyright

540. Quarry

  1. Cerynean stag captured by Hercules as third Labor. [Gk. and Rom. Myth.: Hall, 149]
  2. Cretan bull savage bull caught by Hercules as seventh Labor. [Gk. and Rom. Myth.: Hall, 149]
  3. Erymanthian boar Hercules’ fourth Labor: to take this ravaging beast alive. [Gk. and Rom. Myth.: Hall, 149]
  4. fetching Cerberus Hercules’ twelfth Labor: capture the Hadean watchdog. [Gk. and Rom. Myth.: Hall, 150]
  5. Moby Dick pursued by Ahab and crew of Pequod. [Am. Lit.: Moby Dick ]
  6. Nemean lion awesome beast strangled by Hercules as first Labor. [Gk. and Rom. Myth.: Hall, 148]
  7. Old Ben great bear; subject of annual quest by mature men. [Am. Lit.: The Bear in Six Modern Short Novels ]
  8. oxen of Geryon captured after tremendous obstacles overcome; Hercules’ tenth Labor. [Gk. and Rom. Myth.: Hall, 149]
  9. snark elusive imaginary animal. [Br. Lit.: The Hunting of the Snark ]
  10. Wolfman metamorphosed man hunted down by armed men as wild beast. [Am. Lit.: Wolfman ]
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quarry

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | Copyright

quar·ry1 / ˈkwôrē; ˈkwä-/ • n. (pl. -ries) a place, typically a large, deep pit, from which stone or other materials are or have been extracted. • v. (-ries, -ried) [tr.] extract (stone or other materials) from a quarry. ∎  cut into (rock or ground) to obtain stone or other materials. quar·ry2 • n. (pl. -ries) an animal pursued by a hunter, hound, predatory mammal, or bird of prey. ∎  a thing or person that is chased or sought: the security police crossed the border in pursuit of their quarry. quar·ry3 • n. (pl. -ries) 1. (also quar·rel) a diamond-shaped pane of glass as used in lattice windows. 2. (also quarry tile) an unglazed floor tile.

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quarry

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Copyright

quarry1 parts of a deer placed on the hide and given to the hounds; collection of deer killed XIV; animal hunted or hawked at XV. ME. quirre, querre — AN. *quire, *quere, OF. cuiree (mod. curée), alt., by crossing with cuir leather and curer cleanse, spec. disembowel (:- L. curāre CURE), of couree :- Rom. *corāta entrails, f. cor HEART; see -Y5.
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T. F. HOAD. "quarry." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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quarry

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | | Copyright

quarry an animal which is being hunted. Originally, the term denoted the parts of a deer that were placed on the hide and given as a reward to the hounds; the word comes (in Middle English) from Old French cuiree, an alteration, influenced by cuir ‘leather’ and curer ‘clean, disembowel’, of couree, based on Latin cor ‘heart’.
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "quarry." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "quarry." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-quarry.html

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quarry

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Copyright

quarry3 square tile, etc. XVI; †square-headed arrow: pane of glass XVII. alt. of QUARREL1, prob. after †quarry square (XIII–XVII) — OF. quarré (mod. carré):- L. quadrātus QUADRAT.
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quarry

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Copyright

quarry2 open-air excavation from which stone is obtained. XV. — medL. quarreia, shortened var. of quareria = OF. quarriere (mod. carrière). f. *quarre :- L. quadrum square.
Hence vb. XVIII.
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Quarry

Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms | 1985 | Copyright

Quarry

a heap of deer killed at a hunt, 1400; a heap of dead men, 1589.

Examples : quarry of the dead, 1603; quarry of piled vanities, 1633.
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quarrying

A Dictionary of Earth Sciences | 1999 | | Copyright

quarrying See GLACIAL PLUCKING.
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AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "quarrying." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "quarrying." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-quarrying.html

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quarrying

A Dictionary of Ecology | 2004 | | Copyright

quarrying See glacial plucking.
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MICHAEL ALLABY. "quarrying." A Dictionary of Ecology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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quarry

Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes | 2007 | Copyright

quarry •Florrie, Laurie, lorry, Macquarie, quarry, sorry, whare •Rhodri • Godfrey • hostelry •Coventry • quixotry •cacciatore, Corey, dory, Florey, flory, furore, glory, gory, hoary, hunky-dory, lory, Maury, monsignori, Montessori, multistorey, Pori, Rory, satori, saury, storey, story, Tory, vainglory •Aubrey • aumbry •Audrey, bawdry, tawdry •laundry •gallimaufry, orphrey •palfrey • paltry • outlawry • centaury •clerestory (US clearstory) •understorey •cowrie, kauri, Lowry, Maori •Cowdrey • foundry • Rowntree •ochry (US ochery) • poultry •coxcombry • matsuri • Kirkcudbright •shoetree •Hurri, potpourri •kukri • century • penury • estuary •residuary • augury • mercury

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