Abstract: The albitisation of pelitic metasediments to form adinoles adjacent to minor mafic intrusions has in the past been attributed to Na-bearing metasomatizing fluids emanating from the intrusions themselves. The chemistry and mineralogy of adinoles associated with dykes forming a high-intensity swarm in the Tallaght area, County Dublin, Ireland, confirms a metasomatic origin for the adinoles described, with Na and to a lesser extent Ca introduced into the country rocks at the expense of K. We suggest, however, that the source of the metasomatizing fluids was external to the dykes — possibly involving a hydrothermal system driven by an underlying magma reservoir that was parental to the dykes and also contributed volatiles to the hydrothermal system by degassing. Heat flow from the dykes was instrumental in promoting the reaction between muscovite in the country rock pelites and the Na(Ca)-bearing fluids to form albite, temperatures of ∼350°C in the country rocks within a metre of the contact being indicated. The mechanism of adinolization proposed is shown to be compatible with recent experimental work on the hydrothermal alteration of greywackes and basalts and also with the likely temperature gradients adjacent to dykes.