Ballingarry Coal Mines
Encyclopedia
Ballingarry Coal Mines are underground coal mines located near the village of Ballingarry, South Tipperary
, Ireland
. Situated near the border with County Kilkenny
, the mines are now disused and have flooded. Other nearby centres of population are Killenaule
and New Birmingham
.
. The deposits, which are highly faulted, consist of three strata, the lowest averaging nine inches in thickness and the others being approximately two feet thick. Due to the inclined coal layer acting as a slippage plane, substantial amounts of the deposits have been crushed and blended with the upper and lower boundary
shale
. This has resulted in a less commercially attractive material known locally as culm. Due to its high elevation, melting snow in the Slieve Ardagh region intermittently resulted in large volumes of flood-water with a short 'Time of Concentration
'. This sometimes threatened to overwhelm the mines ordinary pumping capacity.
. By 1866, twelve pits were being worked locally while three had recently been abandoned. From 1942 until 1950, the mines were managed by the government under the name Mianrai Teo.
, returned from Lancashire
in England and soon many locals who had also emigrated from the area returned to work the mines. Three years later, 330 men were employed there and future employment prospects were good, with the new pit at Gurteen having been recently opened and "British coal up another 30 shillings a ton in the Dublin area". Wages varied between £15 and £25 per week, depending on quantity mined. By the early 1970s, the mines were in financial difficulties and management were seeking government intervention. In 1971, 100 workers were made redundant and the following year the mines went into receivership resulting in the redundancy of another 150 men, just before the first oil crisis
. Maintenance of the mines was continued for a period, and disaster was narrowly averted in 1973 when an underground fire threatened the lives of 17 workers. Despite these efforts the mines closed, and with the pumps disconnected the pits flooded. The second oil crisis
resulted in soaring fuel prices, and it appeared the mines would once again be seen as a viable enterprise.
originally from Ballylooby
in Tipperary and Gilbert Howley, a native of Co. Mayo. As a student, Keating had worked for O'Brien at the Gurteen pit before emigrating to work on the M1 motorway
in England. He returned to Ireland in the early sixties and later became involved with Howley in the latter's civil engineering and excavation business. They reopened workings at Lickfinn, near the village of New Birmingham, which accessed the coal by Slope mining
. Initially the mines employed 34 miners and the Electricity Supply Board
expressed an interest in using Ballingarry coal for the generation of power and so reduce its dependence on imported oil. However, in preliminary testing at a power station designed to burn peat
, the high temperatures produced by the anthracite caused its fire-grates to overheat. Coal dust was supplied to the Irish Sugar processing plant at Thurles
and they became an important customer. Financing also proved a difficulty for Kealy Mines, and it was acquired by a Canadian consortium in 1982. Flair Resources Ltd., trading as Tipperary Anthracite was headed by John Young, a Tipperary emigrant to Canada. The new company expanded the workforce to 80 and transferred surface processing such as washing
, screening and bagging to the old pithead at Gurteen. It also opened a second underground 'cutting' and investigated exploiting the more marginal No. 1 seam. An electrically powered coal-cutter was employed and investment allowed some further modernisation of plant. Extraction concentrated on the No. 2 seam, with its reserves estimated at that time to be 3 million tonnes. By 1985, Tipperary Anthracite was also in receivership. Financial irregularities regarding IDA
grants were investigated by the Gardaí
and highlighted on RTÉ
current affairs programme 'Today Tonight'. In 1989, Emereld Resources was granted a licence to reopen the mines and for a while sporadic work continued at Lickfinn-Earl's Hill.
, very little evidence now remains of Tipperary's coal mining heritage at Ballingarry.
South Tipperary
South Tipperary is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Munster. It is named after the town of Tipperary and consists of 52% of the land area of the traditional county of Tipperary. The county was established in 1898 and has had a county...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. Situated near the border with County Kilkenny
County Kilkenny
County Kilkenny is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. The territory of the county was the core part of the ancient Irish Kingdom of Osraige which in turn was the core of the Diocese of...
, the mines are now disused and have flooded. Other nearby centres of population are Killenaule
Killenaule
Killenaule is a town and a civil parish in the barony of Slievardagh, South Tipperary in Ireland. It is also one half of the ecclesiastical parish of Killenaule and Moyglass in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly. It is located east of Cashel on the R689 and R691 regional roads...
and New Birmingham
New Birmingham
New Birmingham is a small village in the barony of Slievardagh, South Tipperary, Ireland. It is located approximately 15 kilometres from Thurles and also on the R689 regional road between Urlingford and Fethard. It is within the townland of Glengoole ....
.
Geology
The type of coal mined here was anthracite, a hard, smokeless fuel with a high calorific value and relatively low ash content. The coalfield is situated in the Slieve Ardagh range of hills and is an extension of the Leinster coalfields, being separated by a narrow band of Carboniferous limestoneCarboniferous limestone
Carboniferous Limestone is a term used to describe a variety of different types of limestone occurring widely across Great Britain and Ireland which were deposited during the Dinantian epoch of the Carboniferous period. They were formed between 363 and 325 million years ago...
. The deposits, which are highly faulted, consist of three strata, the lowest averaging nine inches in thickness and the others being approximately two feet thick. Due to the inclined coal layer acting as a slippage plane, substantial amounts of the deposits have been crushed and blended with the upper and lower boundary
Overburden
Overburden is the material that lies above an area of economic or scientific interest in mining and archaeology; most commonly the rock, soil, and ecosystem that lies above a coal seam or ore body. It is also known as 'waste' or 'spoil'...
shale
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
. This has resulted in a less commercially attractive material known locally as culm. Due to its high elevation, melting snow in the Slieve Ardagh region intermittently resulted in large volumes of flood-water with a short 'Time of Concentration
Time of Concentration
Time of concentration is a concept used in hydrology to measure the response of a watershed to a rain event. It is defined as the time needed for water to flow from the most remote point in a watershed to the watershed outlet...
'. This sometimes threatened to overwhelm the mines ordinary pumping capacity.
19th and early 20th century
From 1826, the main commercial enterprise was the Mining Company of Ireland which ended operations in 1926. In the 1840s, 50,000 tons per year were extracted here. The mines featured significantly during the Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848
The Young Irelander Rebellion was a failed Irish nationalist uprising led by the Young Ireland movement. It took place on 29 July 1848 in the village of Ballingarry, County Tipperary. After being chased by a force of Young Irelanders and their supporters, an Irish Constabulary unit raided a house...
. By 1866, twelve pits were being worked locally while three had recently been abandoned. From 1942 until 1950, the mines were managed by the government under the name Mianrai Teo.
Gurteen
In 1953, the mining lease for the area was purchased from the government by Tommy O'Brien for £50,000. O'Brien, originally from Co. MayoCounty Mayo
County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...
, returned from Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
in England and soon many locals who had also emigrated from the area returned to work the mines. Three years later, 330 men were employed there and future employment prospects were good, with the new pit at Gurteen having been recently opened and "British coal up another 30 shillings a ton in the Dublin area". Wages varied between £15 and £25 per week, depending on quantity mined. By the early 1970s, the mines were in financial difficulties and management were seeking government intervention. In 1971, 100 workers were made redundant and the following year the mines went into receivership resulting in the redundancy of another 150 men, just before the first oil crisis
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
. Maintenance of the mines was continued for a period, and disaster was narrowly averted in 1973 when an underground fire threatened the lives of 17 workers. Despite these efforts the mines closed, and with the pumps disconnected the pits flooded. The second oil crisis
1979 energy crisis
The 1979 oil crisis in the United States occurred in the wake of the Iranian Revolution. Amid massive protests, the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, fled his country in early 1979 and the Ayatollah Khomeini soon became the new leader of Iran. Protests severely disrupted the Iranian oil...
resulted in soaring fuel prices, and it appeared the mines would once again be seen as a viable enterprise.
Lickfinn
In 1978, Kealy Mines commenced explorations in the area. The name derived from the surnames of its two principals, Patrick Keating, a civil engineerCivil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
originally from Ballylooby
Ballylooby
Ballylooby , is a village in the barony of Iffa and Offa West, South Tipperary in Ireland. It is also a parish in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Waterford and Lismore.- Location :...
in Tipperary and Gilbert Howley, a native of Co. Mayo. As a student, Keating had worked for O'Brien at the Gurteen pit before emigrating to work on the M1 motorway
M1 motorway
The M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...
in England. He returned to Ireland in the early sixties and later became involved with Howley in the latter's civil engineering and excavation business. They reopened workings at Lickfinn, near the village of New Birmingham, which accessed the coal by Slope mining
Slope mining
Slope mining is a method of accessing valuable geological material, such as coal. A sloping access shaft travels downwards towards the coal seam. Slope mines differ from shaft and drift mines, which access resources by tunneling straight down or horizontally, respectively.In slope mining, an angled...
. Initially the mines employed 34 miners and the Electricity Supply Board
Electricity Supply Board
The Electricity Supply Board , is a semi-state electricity company in Ireland. While historically a monopoly, the ESB now operates as a commercial semi-state concern in a liberalised and competitive market...
expressed an interest in using Ballingarry coal for the generation of power and so reduce its dependence on imported oil. However, in preliminary testing at a power station designed to burn peat
Peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
, the high temperatures produced by the anthracite caused its fire-grates to overheat. Coal dust was supplied to the Irish Sugar processing plant at Thurles
Thurles
Thurles is a town situated in North Tipperary, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Eliogarty and is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly...
and they became an important customer. Financing also proved a difficulty for Kealy Mines, and it was acquired by a Canadian consortium in 1982. Flair Resources Ltd., trading as Tipperary Anthracite was headed by John Young, a Tipperary emigrant to Canada. The new company expanded the workforce to 80 and transferred surface processing such as washing
Coal preparation plant
A coal preparation plant is a facility that washes coal of soil and rock, preparing it for transport to market. A CPP may also be called a "coal handling and preparation plant" , "prep plant," "tipple," or "wash plant"....
, screening and bagging to the old pithead at Gurteen. It also opened a second underground 'cutting' and investigated exploiting the more marginal No. 1 seam. An electrically powered coal-cutter was employed and investment allowed some further modernisation of plant. Extraction concentrated on the No. 2 seam, with its reserves estimated at that time to be 3 million tonnes. By 1985, Tipperary Anthracite was also in receivership. Financial irregularities regarding IDA
IDA Ireland
IDA Ireland is the agency responsible for industrial development in Ireland. The agency was founded in 1949 as the Industrial Development Authority and placed on a statutory footing a year later...
grants were investigated by the Gardaí
Garda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...
and highlighted on RTÉ
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...
current affairs programme 'Today Tonight'. In 1989, Emereld Resources was granted a licence to reopen the mines and for a while sporadic work continued at Lickfinn-Earl's Hill.
Present day
Mining on a reduced scale progressed for some time before the pit again closed. Unlike the recent tourist enterprise at ArignaArigna
Arigna is a village in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is near Lough Allen , on a designated "scenic route" between Keadue and Sliabh an Iarainn .-Arigna coal mine:...
, very little evidence now remains of Tipperary's coal mining heritage at Ballingarry.
Colloquial mining terms used at Ballingarry
- 'Banshee', a compressed-air rock drill with an extending mono-pod, used to bore holes for explosives.
- 'Puncheon', a round timber strut (approx. 4 inches diameter) to support overburden in areas where coal was extracted.
- 'Chock', lengths of pine-trunk 3 feet long and from 9 to 12 inches in diameter and roughly sawn to give two flat surfaces. They were used on the flat to construct square supports if more substantial support than puncheons was required.
- 'Fire damp', methaneMethaneMethane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
gas. - 'Bogey', rail car for transporting support-timbers (and occasionally miners).
- 'Tub', rail car for transporting coal and shale.
- 'Cane', stick of geligniteGeligniteGelignite, also known as blasting gelatin or simply jelly, is an explosive material consisting of collodion-cotton dissolved in either nitroglycerine or nitroglycol and mixed with wood pulp and saltpetre .It was invented in 1875 by Alfred Nobel, who had earlier invented dynamite...
. - 'Pit bottom', limit of main road sloping from surface (at approx. 25 degrees) and where the largest pumps were positioned. Miners walked down the pit at Lickfinn, on rough-cut steps beside the single narrow-gauge rail. At the pit bottom, horizontal roads (also with a single rail-track), branched left and right. As the branch roads progressed, switched sidingsRail sidingA siding, in rail terminology, is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line or branch line or spur. It may connect to through track or to other sidings at either end...
were extended to 'park' tubs near the work area. - 'Rock face', limit of horizontal branch road.
- 'Topple', a sloping drift off the branch road and following the coal seam upwards. It was excavated only to the depth of the coal. This was where most of the coal was extracted by miners lying flat in the two feet headroom.
- 'Coal face', the limit of a 'topple'.
- 'Hurrier' (occasionally 'Trammer'), a miner engaged in moving tubs underground.
- 'Chute', a metal bin fixed at the end of a topple and extending over the branch road. A trap-door was opened and closed to progressively fill a series of tubs on the road. Galvanised sheets extending from the chute up to the 'coal face' allowed the miners to fill the chute assisted by gravity. The full tubs were then winched or pushed to the pit bottom. There they were attached to the main winch for hoisting to the surface, tipped, and the empties returned.
- 'Shining ball', form of culm or duff, high in clay content.
- 'Pillar', section of coal left to support roof.
- 'Cutter', large chainsaw-like machine used to undermine coal.
- 'Jigger', pneumatic pick.
- 'Tally', a brass token with a stamped number threaded on a string and carried by the miner around his neck. It was placed by the 'Hurrier' in the full tub to indicate which team had mined it. Tallies were used to calculate production-based bonuses.
- 'Fireman', the foreman responsible for detonating explosives at the end of a shift.
Other coal mines in Ireland
- Deerpark MinesDeerpark MinesDeerpark Mines, located about 3Km north of Castlecomer, County Kilkenny, were the largest opencast coalmines in Ireland, giving great employment to the area. Producing anthracite, a natural smokeless fuel, the mines were connected to the rail system in Ireland in 1919...
, CastlecomerCastlecomerCastlecomer is a town in the barony of Fassadinin, County Kilkenny in Ireland.The Irish name for the town translates to "The castle at the confluence of the rivers"; the "rivers" refers to the rivers Deen, Brocagh and Clohogue while the "castle" refers to the castle built by the Normans in 1171...
. - ArignaArignaArigna is a village in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is near Lough Allen , on a designated "scenic route" between Keadue and Sliabh an Iarainn .-Arigna coal mine:...
, County RoscommonCounty RoscommonCounty Roscommon is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the town of Roscommon. Roscommon County Council is the local authority for the county...
.
External links
- Ballingarry entry in A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland by Samuel Lewis, 1837.
- Map 'Coal mining in Slieveardagh'
- Former miner Jimmy Lawlor's acoount of Gurteen (Scroll down page).
- Account of the 1973 fire, by Kilkenny Fire Service.
- The Arigna Mining Experience
- http://www.oireachtas-debates.gov.ie/plweb-cgi/fastweb?state_id=1237806722&view=oho-view&docrank=24&numhitsfound=39&query_rule=(($query1)%3C%3DDATE%3C%3D($query2))%20AND%20(($query4))%3ASPEAKER%20AND%20(($query5))%3Aheading%20AND%20(($query6))%3ACATEGORY%20AND%20(($query3))%3Ahouse%20AND%20(($query7))%3Avolume%20AND%20(($query8))%3Acolnumber%20AND%20(($query))&query5=Ballingarry&docid=153327&docdb=Debates&dbname=Debates&sorting=none&operator=and&TemplateName=predoc.tmpl&setCookie=1Dáil Éireann - Volume 253 - 20 April, 1971]
- Dáil Éireann - Volume 270 - 07 February, 1974
- Dáil Éireann debate - 27 February, 1986
- Governments position regarding compensation for miners of poor health. (Sensitive information obscured).