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The Copper Coast UNESCO Global Geopark is located on the south east coast of Ireland, between Tramore and Dungarvan in County Waterford. To the north lie the Comeragh Mountains which reach a height of 750 m. The area is a relatively flat lying glacial outwash plain, much covered by glacial till and bog, with occasional spectacular erratics. Three roughly N-S rivers dissect the UNESCO Global Geopark and display excellent examples of glacial erosion and deposition (an excellent walk follows the Ann river starting at Annestown). The coast is spectacular with numerous sandy and rocky coves displaying sea stacks, arches and blow holes. It comprises some 25 kilometres of spectacular coastline consisting of scalloped beaches and coves buttressed and enclosed by rocky headlands. The Copper Coast is an outdoor geology museum with a geological heritage that reflects the variety of environments under which the area has evolved over the last 460 million years. Sedimentary and volcanic rocks define a cross-section through the core of an Ordovician age island arc volcanic system (ca. 460-455 Ma) which extended along the south-eastern flank of the Iapetus Ocean. A fossil rich siltstone/limestone (c. 462-457Ma) marks a hiatus above which the sequence is dominated by felsic volcanic rocks, with intrusive equivalents interspersed with shales, some graptolitic. Spectacular columnar jointed rhyolite is well exposed at one locality. Semi-arid fluviatile sediments (ca. 370-360 Ma), now reddish brown coloured conglomerates, sandstones, siltstones and shales, rest with marked unconformity on the Ordovician. An enormous gap in geological time separates these sequences from those next exposed, unconsolidated tills, boulder clays and outwash sands and gravels of the Quaternary period (Pleistocene epoch) all deposited with very profound unconformity on the Ordovician and Devonian sequences. Cross-sections of these rocks are exposed along the spectacular cliffs and are interpreted for the public at various points. For a brief introduction to these rocks, a stroll around the Geological Garden in Bunmahon will prove instructive. Copper was mined extensively in the area during the 19th century. The Geopark’s name is derived from this activity, and the Copper Coast icon is derived from the conserved remains of a mine complex on a high point of the cliffs. Panels there explain how the mine worked.