Geology      

  240,000,000 years ago there were no people on earth, it was covered with plants and reptiles. Year after year trees and other kinds of plants would be knocked down and they would die. Castlecomer  was then flat, very hot and even steamy. The beginning of coal was actually the thick vegetation and plants lying on top of one another. As time went on there were many hot periods.            Then there was a time when everything went cold and died off. This age was called the ice -age and there were huge glaciers over the Ireland. Glaciers moved slowly and formed the countryside. After millions and millions of years this age came to an end. Parts of Kilkenny sank beneath the sea, this is how limestone was made. We know this because limestone is made from sea creatures. Gradually the land cooled and buckled,  there were many hills and mountains pushed up. Quite a lot of volcanoes burst and lava poured out of them. They also covered vegetation. There were tons and tons of mud and sand, this made sandstones and shales. In the Castlecomer area pressure was so great that it pushed out gases and so anthracite was formed. 

            Anthracite is the highest rank of coal. This black coal is very hard. Anthracite burns longer than bituminous coal although it is hard to light, this is so because anthracite has more carbon than bituminous coal. It is a smokeless fuel. Only one tenth of it has gases in it.

Rank of coal ……

·        Wood

·        Peat

·        Lignite

·        Cannel Coal

·        Bituminous coal

·        Anthracite