Background information

Our primary role is the protection and promotion of Ireland's geological heritage. Ireland has a long and interesting geological history which has given us a great diversity of rock types and land forms for a country of its size. The geology has shaped the way we live and continues to contribute to our economic, cultural and societal development. We care for this important aspect of our heritage through the identification of sites as County Geological Site and their conservation and protection under the guidelines adopted by ProGEO, the European Association of the Conservation of Geological Heritage.

History

Ireland's geological heritage is assessed under 16 geological themes. After early trials of different methods with the first three themes, a methodology was agreed based largely on good practice elsewhere in Europe (as shared through ProGEO, the European Association for the Conservation of Geological Heritage). This established an expert panel for each of the 16 geological themes (IGH 1 to IGH 16) which helped the GSI produce an indicative, or candidate, list of sites for each theme. The thematic process involved a commissioned desk-top study of the sites selected by the relevant Expert Panel and did not normally include site visits. Later detailed site visits and boundary definition by the GSI would ultimately form part of the NHA designation process. The programme also aimed eventually to contribute to the wider ProGEO Geosites Project, by comparing Irish sites to adjacent regions within defined European frameworks.

Themes

The geological heritage of Ireland is considered and evaluated within an overall framework of 16 themes. Each theme considers specific aspects, such as stratigraphy, sedimentology, structural geology, volcanic rocks, etc and addresses all aspects of the particular geology involved, but some sites may be considered within two or more themes.

Explore the 16 themes

ProGEO

ProGEO is the European Association for the Conservation of the Geological Heritage.

Geological Survey Ireland represents Ireland in the Northern Europe Group of ProGEO. ProGeo objectives underpin our aims in the protection and promotion of Geoheritage sites in Ireland.

ProGEO objectives are:

To promote the conservation of Europe's rich heritage of landscape, rock, fossil and mineral sites.
To inform a wider public of the importance of this patrimony, and of its relevance to modern society.
To advise, in our countries and in Europe as a whole, those responsible for protecting our Earth heritage
To organise and participate in research into all aspects of planning, science, management and interpretation that are relevant to geoconservation.
To involve all countries in Europe, exchanging ideas and information in an open forum, and taking a full part in conservation in a global setting, including the formulation of conventions and legislation.
To work towards an integrated European listing of outstanding geoscience sites, thus enabling full support to be given to the work of other international bodies, as well as to national initiatives towards site protection.
To achieve an integrated approach to nature conservation, promoting a holistic approach to the conservation of biological and physical phenomena.

ProGEO website