5966 x 3973 px | 50,5 x 33,6 cm | 19,9 x 13,2 inches | 300dpi
Aufnahmedatum:
1. Juni 2013
Ort:
Copper Coast Geopark, County Waterford, Ireland
Weitere Informationen:
The mine head buildings at Tankardstown near Bunmahon on County Waterford's Copper Coast present an industrial charm in the evening light. The original mine at nearby Knockmahon was very profitable for the Mining Company of Ireland and described during its peak in 1840, as ‘the most important mining district in the (British) Empire’. When those copper seams were depleted, the company discovered Tankardstown and moved their entire operation to the coast. The romantic coastal ruins however, conceal the physically demanding work of miners working at depths of a quarter of a mile and the same distance under the sea bed. Accidents often occurred as the miners descended by ladders to great depths, one slip and they would collide with others below them. It was a problem exacerbated by alcohol, so to keep the men out of the twenty plus pubs in Bunmahon village, the company set up a Temperance Hall. But nothing lasts and when peak output was reached in 1865 a consistent decline continued until 1879, when the engines were sold for scrap leaving just the ruin of the minehead buildings. The 1, 200 people employed in the mine moved on, along with hotels, shops and all but two of the pubs. Bunmahon was once again a sleepy seaside village. When the new millennium dawned, a group of local enthusiasts felt the area's mining heritage ought to be both recognised and preserved. They applied to UNESCO for recognition as a Geopark and four years later it was granted. The Copper Coast became the first Geopark in Ireland and one of over 170 established in forty six countries. The copper mine appears in "Irish Follies and Whimsical Architecture" by George Munday and published by O'Brien Press in Dublin.
