Islands of Ireland: Erratic behaviour in Galway

Huge swathes of granite crosses south Connemara, including the islands of the Gaeltacht area of Ceantar na nOileán.

Freaghillaun Beg, Connemara, Co Galway. Picture: Dan MacCarthy

Limestone has many friends. Not so granite. Where limestone is malleable, granite is obdurate. Where limestone accommodates, granite resists. Apart from sculptors and rock climbers, granite appears largely unloved.

Poets such as WH Auden, and nature writers such as Tim Robinson and Robert MacFarlane, swoon over its myriad properties. Poor old granite is best thought of as being suitable for graveyard headstones.