Third Class Tour Irish Cement Factory

Our third class visited the Irish Cement factory in Mungret for a tour of the facility. Concrete is the second most commonly used material in the world (after water) and the children got to view how the cement is manufactured.

Below is an account of their experiences and a gallery of photos from the trip.

Irish Cement

Today 3rd class went to the Irish Cement factory in Mungret, County Limerick. They organised a bus to come and collect us at the school at 10.ooam. So we all got on the bus!

When we got there they brought us into reception. In there we met Elaine, Caoimhe and John. They said they would be our guides for the day so they showed us a slide show and a video about how cement is made. Elaine showed us some rocks: Limestone and shale.

Next we went down to the quarry and saw a big truck. We all went into the shovel and for a picture. They told us that every Thursday the guards come while they blow up a bit of the quarry. Then we went to the kiln and put our arms up to see how hot it is. Then we went back and took off all our safety gear. They gave us all a bag with goodies in it before we went back to school.

Molly

The Kiln

After the quarry we went to the kiln. The kiln is very hot. The rock has to reach 1450 degrees for the rock to melt. It can get to 2000 degrees, hotter than a volcano!

Ciarán

A kiln is a big round machine like a cylinder. Elaine told us to put up our hands and feel the heat!

Liam

The Quarry

The first stop on the tour was the quarry where we saw the loading shovel. It was massive! It had a bucket that could hold over 20 people.

Sinéad