Mining History

Arigna's long and varied mining tradition goes back to medieval times when it started with the mining of iron ore. This was carried out all around the shores of Lough Allen. The mountain to the East of the Lough is called Slieve Anierin, which translates to "Iron Mountain".
Arigna village was the main mining village of Ireland. -->

It was probably out of desperation for fire material that coal began to be mined in Arigna in 1765. This new efficient heat source prompted the O' Reilly brothers to rebuild a new iron works in Arigna.

" Follow in their Footsteps... "

The smelting of iron , which produced charcoal, began in Arigna in the 16th Century and was fired by local timber.

The Elizabethan planter, Charles Coote built iron works in Arigna and Creevelea which were destroyed during the 1641 rebellion but were subsequently rebuilt.
These works closed in 1690 as no organised tree planting took place at this time and the timber eventually ran out. <--

Great Mining Era : The "Iron Works" was eventually completed in 1788 located at a site adjacent to the present coal briquette factory. The field beside the iron works was known as the Furnace field. Dammed water was used to cool the furnaces at Arigna. The first Iron Railway in Ireland ran along an inclined surface to the furnace pool and was built in 1805. Although only horse drawn carriages were used on this railway it was built to a very high standard. It was later lifted and another new railway was laid all the way to the coke yard.

INDUSTRIAL ARCHEOLOGY

Transport Systems :
Railway
There have been numerous transport methods used to move Arigna coal from water, rail to horse & cart. The first development was that of a horse drawn railway. From 1831-1832 a horse operated railway was built along the Arigna river to bring coal and iron to the Iron works.
In 1883 the Cavan Leitrim Railway was opened to goods traffic.
The Railway was a very important feature which aided the development of the mines. By 1920 a line was built from Arigna Valley Station up to the Colleries.

Aerial Ropeway
By the period of 1930-1934 the Laydens decided to open aerial ropeway connections
with Arigna and the three mines of Rover, Rockhill and Derrenavoggy.
This over head cable system was very elaborate. A 2000 metre cable from Rover pit,
a 3000 metre cable from Rockhill pit and a 600 metre cable from Derrenavoggy pits brought the coal down to the siding in Arigna.
Remnants of this ropeway are evident on the mountain. Most of the standing trusses have rusted and fallen, but very few like the one on te right still stands.
But advanced rust attack means it will soon be just another heap of rusty iron on the mountain side.

Lough Allen Canal
Also important to the mines in Arigna was the Lough Allen Canal. This canal was excavated from Battlebridge on the Shannon to Lough Allen near Drumshanbo in 1817 and bypassed the rapids. It opened up Lough Allen to navigation on the entire Shannon River system.
It brought Arigna Coal to the country and this coal was the main source of heat energy in Ireland in the years leading up to and during the second world war. It gradually ceased to be used commercially and closed. It has recently been reopened to shannon Cruiser traffic.

Arigna Coal Burning PowerStation: The Power Station was opened in 1957, and burned coal to turn the electricity turbines. It was one of only two such power stations in Ireland pumping power into the national grid.	*The station worked for two years after the minesclosed in 1990 and has since been demolished.*
When the Station closed, most of the workers were absorbed into the electricity company ( E.S.B. ) They fared better than the miners. But the loss of over 40 jobs on top of the mine closures was a serious blow to the local economy.

SOCIAL HISTORY

The Miners Life

Daily Prayer

Family & Social Life

Miners working underground and Steam Train carrying coal and passengers to and from Arigna

The Miners Life
It was very common for a miner to start work underground at the age of 14 years or once they left the National School. All Miners would start as "Drawers", who filled hutches and pushed them out to the main underground mine road. Here the hutches were linked up to the haulage system and pulled to the outside. They could progress on to become "Cutters" or "Brushers" who cut the coal, prepared the mine for the next days work, extended the roads and used explosives .
An Ironman was in charge of the coal cutter.
Some men would work as "Proppers". Originally stone pillars were used to prop up the mine roof, but timber pillars were used after the coal cutter came in. The pillars would break as the weight of the mountain on top pushed down but lasted long enough to get the coal out . Coal was brought out in a series of hutches ( Hutches were coal wagons which ran on rails ). They were pulled by an endless rope.
Sometimes small diesel locomotives were used to pull hutches out to the face of the pit.

Steam Train on the Galley and Miners finishing another day's work.

The Daily Prayer Before Mining Began

A Miner praying before entering the Mines for the Day.

It was standard practice to say a little prayer at the picture of the sacred heart to pray for safety through the day. The first order of the day was to look after the treasured explosives hidden safely in a magazine underground. These were dished out sparingly with just enough explosives used for the day's work. Explosives made short work of the hard rock and left it in a condition so that it could be handled and moved by the miner. The debris was filled into hutches and carried to the outside of the mine. Some of this rock might be used to fill an open space left by the coal when it was removed.

Family and Social life
Arigna faces were always black. The image women folk always had of men coming home from work was the whites of their eyes. Everything else was black. "Where there is dirt there is money!". Communion dresses, confirmation outfits, weddings and funerals were all paid for through the miner's wage.

Live music was played in all the Pubs throughout the Parish. A Tradition which still draws the crowds to this day.

Traditional Irish Music played an important part in the miners social life.
Home Life (1940s)
The wives, daughters and sisters of miners remember vividly the hardship and work associated with the mines. Miners who came home from a day's work in the pits would wear wet and black clothes. They were taken off and put around the fire to dry for the next morning. The men washed in tin baths on the middle of the kitchen floor. There were no showers or running water at this time. They only washed their hands and faces during the week. There was a whole body - wash during the weekends. Normally hot water was scarce because you could only boil a kettle of water at a time. The weekends were always busy as a lot of washing was carried out then. You would need a lot of water which was carted in barrels by horse and cart from the river or spring. Some of the pit clothes were washed, for example, shirts & underwear were washed but the jackets and trousers were never washed. The wash - board was used at this time. You would soak the clothes first with Rinso to get the black dirt out. Washing machines had not been invented yet!

Back to Top of Page

Previous

Next

...Home

For Printer Friendly Version Click Here >