Volcanic islands erupted lavas and volcanic ash near Dingle, Co. Kerry. Shallow seas contained corals, brachiopods, and trilobites, and plants grew on dry land for the first time. The Leinster granite was injected into the crust.

430 million years ago a large continent called Gondwana was situated largely in the southern hemisphere. It was made up of present-day southern Europe, Afrca, Antarctica, India, Australia and South America. A shallow ocean called Iapetus separated Gondwana from another continental area called Laurentia that included Scandinavia and North America. The area that is now Ireland was a shallow sea that separated between parts of Laurentia.

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