Last week we were in the west of the country - in County Roscommon for a few days and one of the places we visited that has left a huge impression of all the family was the Arigna Mining Experience. This is now a mining museum but from the 1700's until 1990 was a working mine. At its peak, during the war years of 1939-1944, Arigna employed 400 people in the mines. This was a huge number for this small rural area. When the mines closed in 1990, approximately 200 people were still employed.
Now, you are able to take a tour underground to experience what it was like to work in some of the narrowest coal seams in the western world. The tour lasted nearly an hour and our guide, Maurice, was fantastic. He had worked in the mines and explained the conditions and the work he did with great passion and pride. He was particularly good with Murray and me (which was certainly appreciated by all the family!).
Working in the mines was extremely harsh and dangerous and although only four miners were killed during its entire mining period, there were many serious injuries. Every miner used to stop and say a prayer to the Sacred Heart at the mine entrance before going in to begin his shift. The miners needed to protect themselves from the dangers they faced daily.
Above is one the seams where the miners worked and as the seams were approximately only 18 inches high, the miner at the coal face had to lie on his side in pools of water to pick out the coal. The miners had no washing or changing facilities and walked home at the end of a shift in soaking wet clothes. Maurice told us how often the men on the late shift would arrive home after midnight often after a five mile or more walk across fields to their homes and when they stepped out of their wet clothes - the clothes would remain standing up on their own - frozen solid!
The main road into the mines was two miles long so Maurice explained that having walked several miles to work, the miners then had a two mile walk inside the mine to where they were working. Once they had passed the straight road and entered the branches, the miners had to crouch down as the slopes were just over 4 foot high. They had to remain like that for the day until they finished their shift and exited the mine.To enable the mine to open to the public it took two years to raise the height of the passageways and put in lighting and cement paths. It was a most moving and memorable visit and really made all the family think about the incredibly difficult and dangerous conditions these miners worked in. There were very few health and safety measures - in fact for many years up until the 1970's - there were not even any safety helmets. Although as we mentioned there were few fatalities, miners died young however from chest and lung diseases. For many men to reach their late 40's was an achievement. Why did they do it, well there were few other jobs around and it paid far better than any other local work. Even in the 1980's - the wages were 2.5 times more than could be earned elsewhere.
Leaving the mines you come out to view the amazing countryside ....
I needed a good stretch! Maurice had let Murray operate their dynamite box - where the mine went into darkness and you hear a loud explosion (to give you the idea of what it was like for the miners) and Murray enjoyed the special effects so much - Maurice let him do it three times! Nothing disturbs me though - just needed to appreciate the cold winter air when we came back up ground!
If you are ever in this part of the countryside - made sure you visit the Arigna Mining Experience. It particularly made the kids (well, Sorcha in particular) appreciate how difficult life was for so many years for these hardworking and brave men.
Thanks again to Maurice and everyone at Arigna Mining for the warm welcome and great attention.A huge thank you also to all our friends for the great welcome back when we returned a little earlier than anticipated the other day. We really do treasure all the kind words and thoughts.
Thank you also to everyone who emailed Batt and Barry (our Government Ministers) over the past two days. You were all really great to get on board and help in the campaign! Paws crossed more funding comes through!
Have a lovely weekend
Clive and gang ......
Norwood
