Dr. Patrick Wyse Jackson, curator of the Geological Museum at Trinity College Dublin, hypothesised that the Golden Hill granite was so named due to it having been partially weathered in situ, with the result that the "slightly altered feldspars" gave the rock "a brownish hue".

[9] Granite was commonly known as "firestone" until the late eighteenth century;[10] not from its classification as an igneous rock (which at this stage was still unknown), but rather from its initial usage as a material from which to make fire grates and chimney pieces owing to its heat-resistant properties.

"Granite was reportedly first quarried in west Wicklow in the early 1700s from several openings at Baltyboys near Blessington, and from 1740 in more significant volumes at Woodend and Threecastles nearby and then from Golden Hill.

[18]: 15:28  It was possible to transport these large sections of Portland stone from Dorset by sea right up to the quays of Dublin, whereas each piece of granite had to come from west Wicklow on horse and cart via roads that were in a bad condition.

[18]: 14:19  In 1981, the TV series Hands filmed stoneworkers replacing some of the wallers of the Parliament House (Bank of Ireland) which was being renovated at the time.

[10] The Trinity records are useful not only in identifying the area from which the granite was sourced at that time, but also for listing the individual names of the suppliers of the stone, and of the stonecutters.

[10] Parliament House, built between 1729 and 1739 is noteworthy for among other things its decorations, some of which, unusually, were carved from granite as opposed to the more malleable Portland stone used for much of the building.

Wyse Jackson notes that "they would have been difficult to produce, on account of the coarse texture of the rock, and so they reflect the considerable skills of the stonemasons.

[20] Hussey notes that the quarries at Woodend and Threecastles would have supported a significant industrial settlement at Oldcourt, a crossroads village situated between the two, where perhaps "over 100 men" were employed.

[20] According to Wyse Jackson and Caulfield, the ability to quarry granite in considerable volume was delayed in Ireland until the mid-1700s due to technological constraints.

[2] A 2015 article in The Wicklow People states that a man "called Olligan (or Halligan) led 400 men from Manor Kilbride, on an exodus of near biblical proportions" to Ballyknockan.