A visitor to the Mournes is rarely out of touch with the hard grey rock which shapes this picturesque area. Granite is a igneous rock originating from the slow crystallisation of molten magma cooling deep beneath the Earth's surface. The word 'granite' is derived from the Latin: granum, meaning grain and describes the granular texture of the rock. The three main minerals easily recognised in granite are felspar, mica and quartz. It is the varying colour and density of each of these minerals along with differences in their cooling times which combine together to give the many different surface appearances of the rock, depending on where in the world it is quarries. Moreover, being homogenous in composition, igneous rocks are said to be 'massive' unlike sedimentary rocks which are composed in layers or beds of varying thickness. These qualities make granite the hardest, strongest and most durable of all building stone.

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