Thick successions of latest Devonian and early Carboniferous siliciclastic rocks of fluviatile and shallow marine origin are well exposed in numerous coastal sections in the south of Ireland. Correlations based on palynostratigraphy demonstrate that an overall northward transgression, in detail consisting of several fluctuations of relative sea level, resulted in the replacement of fluvial coastal plain environments by shallow marine conditions. The most conspicuous lithological record of transgression occurred at or close to the base of the Carboniferous, when a regionally distributed mudstone deposited in a shallow sea, replaced the generally sandy strata that had prevailed in the latest Devonian. There is no evidence for very large glacioeustatic changes of sea level related to the coeval western Gondwanan glaciation. Of the three horizons for a new GSSP for the base of the Carboniferous currently under review, the base of the Protognathodus kuehni Zone/basal Siphonodella sulcata Zone and coastal plant extinction is the most easily applied in Ireland and can be identified using palynology and corresponds to an easily recognised, extensively developed lithological change in the south of the country.

易碎和浅海起源的最新泥盆纪和早期石炭纪硅质碎屑岩层厚厚地暴露在爱尔兰南部的许多沿海地区。基于古地层学的相关性表明，总体上是北向海侵，包括相对海平面的几次波动，导致浅海条件取代了河滨平原环境。最明显的海侵性岩性记录发生在石炭纪底部或附近，当时沉积在浅海中的一个区域分布的泥岩代替了最近泥盆纪盛行的一般沙质地层。没有证据表明与中世纪西部冈瓦纳冰川形成有关的海平面有很大的冰川平衡变化。Protognathodus kuehni地带/ sulcata基部的Siphonodella sulcata地带和沿海植物的灭绝是爱尔兰最容易应用的方法，可以通过孢粉学进行识别，这对应于该国南部一个易于识别的，广泛发展的岩性变化。