Palaeozoic terrane accretion in the Western Irish Caledonides

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Abstract
The southern boundary of the early Caledonides in the British Isles (The Dalradian Supergroup) is represented by the major Highland Boundary‐Fair Head‐Clew Bay line. In the west of Ireland, accretion along this (Laurasian) margin occurred by sinistral strike slip during two phases. The earliest was responsible for the docking of the Connemara terrane, a displaced part of the Dalradian, outboard of the South Mayo Trough in the Llanvirnian‐Llandeilian. This event is recorded independently by radiometrically dated sinistral strike slip deformation in the Ox Mountains of western Ireland. Following deposition of a Silurian overlap sequence, sinistral movements were renewed between the upper Llandoverian and the Siegennian. This event is part of a major phase of sinistral strike slip throughout the British Isles, involving accretion of the Cadomian terrane and the Devonian accretion of the Avalon terrane in the Northern Appalachians.