Howardites
Meteorites of Britain and Ireland · Northern Ireland

The Bovedy meteorite

A fireball seen from Wales to Ulster that dropped a rare, little-altered chondrite.

Key facts

Fell
25 April 1969
Where
Bovedy, County Londonderry, with a piece at Sprucefield near Lisburn
Type
L3 ordinary chondrite
Mass
about 5.5 kg
Where it is kept
Collections in Northern Ireland and elsewhere
Nation today
Northern Ireland

On the evening of 25 April 1969, a brilliant fireball crossed the Irish Sea and Northern Ireland, shedding fragments as it went. A stone of about half a kilogram broke through a roof at Sprucefield near Lisburn, and the main mass, of nearly 5 kilograms, made a small crater in a field at Bovedy in County Londonderry, more than 50 kilometres further along the track.

Bovedy is an L3 ordinary chondrite. The 3 means it was heated very little inside its parent asteroid, so its chondrules and the fine material between them have barely changed since the Solar System formed. Type 3 chondrites are uncommon among falls and valuable to scientists for exactly that reason.

The stones were studied by geologists at Queen's University Belfast and the Ulster Museum. Bovedy is the most recent meteorite to fall in Northern Ireland.

Did you know?

Did you know?

Bovedy's two main pieces landed more than 50 kilometres apart, one of the longest strewn fields in the British Isles.

Did you know?

Type 3 chondrites like Bovedy are among the least changed rocks in the Solar System.

Find out more

Nearest other British and Irish meteorites