AbstractSeabed samples, consisting of shale of Lower Liassic age and limestones of Upper Liassic age, have been recovered from the northwest flank of the St. George's Channel basin. These data have made possible the calibration of parts of lines 6 and 11 of the I.G.S. deep seismic survey. An updated and refined version of the geology of the south Irish Sea is presented which incorporates the new information and indicates the extent of the Precambrian and Lower Palaeozoic basement that is now thought to subcrop beneath the Pleistocene cover southwest of the Lleyn Peninsula. In addition the offshore extension of the Bala Fault is suggested to be an intra‐basin fault across Cardigan Bay and St. George's Channe