Meteorites and Space

Esquel meteorite, Argentina, NMING:R3932

The National Museum of Ireland collection of meteorites started in the early 1800s and holds hundreds of examples of meteorites, tektites, and even a Moon rock from Apollo 17. There are also plates from an Irish experiment to measure cosmic rays, that were carried to the Moon and back on Apollo 16 and Apollo 17.

Meteorites are pieces of rock left over from the early stages of our Solar System. Most have origins in the Asteroid Belt but some in the collections are fragments of the Moon and Mars. They are named after the places where they fall to Earth. There are seven Irish meteorite falls known to date:

Pettiswood, Co. Westmeath 1779
Mooresfort, Co. Tipperary 1810
Limerick, Co. Limerick 1813
Killeter, Co. Tyrone 1844
Dundrum, Co. Tipperary 1865
Crumlin, Co. Antrim 1902
Bovedy, Co. Antrim 1969
Leighlinbridge, Co. Carlow 1999

Tektites are fragments of glassy appearance that can be formed when large meteorites or comets collide with the Earth and produce raindrops of molten rock that can be spead over areas the size of a continent.

Publications on the collection:

Ball, V. 1882. Catalogue of the examples of meteoric falls in the museums of Dublin. Scientific Proceedings, Royal Dublin Society, 8 (New Series): 298-301.
Giesecke, C. L. 1832. A descriptive catalogue of a new collection of minerals in the Museum of the Royal Dublin Society. To which is added an Irish mineralogy. R. Graisberry, Dublin, 268pp.
Hill, H. G. M. 1994. Aspects of the petrology and chemistry of the Irish chondritic meteorites. Unpublished MSc Thesis, University of Dublin.
Seymour, H. J. 1947. On a recent addition to the collection of Irish meteorites in the National Museum Dublin. Scientific Proceedings of the Royal Dublin Society, 24: 157-164.
Seymour, H. J. 1951. Catalogue of the examples of meteoritic falls in Irish museums. Scientific Proceedings of the Royal Dublin Society, 25: 193‑199.