Dundonald Sandstone

Dundonald Sandstone is Triassic in age (248 to 204 million years old) and was quarried at Quarry Corner, Dundonald, the main quarry has been long since built over. It is a red, clay rich, fine to medium grained sandstone which has a porosity of approximately 27%.

It was described by William Gray in the Irish Builder, 1869 “a very good quarry occurs of the deep-red sandstone….but being soft it will not stand exposure to the weather” Dundonald Sandstone weathers very poorly in Belfast’s polluted and marine environment with flaking, scaling and often heavy face loss.

A prime example being St. Patrick’s Church, Donegall Street, Belfast which is in a very poor condition, in this case exacerbated by aggressive cleaning in the past.