A while ago, I received this question from a reader (a Ballymacoda ex-pat now based in Berlin):
I wonder if you know anything about the mine that you find just around the edge of the Knockadoon head – roughly on the cliff underneath the signal tower. We used to explore the opening of the mine shaft when we were kids but never knew the history of it – it’s totally flooded apart from the opening.
This was intriguing, as I had never heard of any mining that may have happened in Knockadoon. The first reference to mining in Knockadoon I can find is contained in Griffith’s Valuation. Richard John Griffith was appointed to carry out a complete land survey of Ireland in 1825, marking the boundaries of every county, town etc. and providing a valuation and listed owner for each parcel of land. Since there are little surviving Irish Census records before 1901, Griffith’s Valuation is always a useful reference. Griffith’s Valuation for County Cork, completed in July 1853, lists the ‘Mining Co. of Ireland‘ as having an office in Knockadoon, which would surely suggest some local mining activities. The Mining Company of Ireland was formed in 1824, and active until the 1860s.
Luckily, Mining Heritage of Ireland has two entries which seem to suggest that at least two copper mining trials were conducted at Knockadoon Head, which are referred to as the ‘eastern trial‘ and the ‘western trial‘.
The trials were conducted to see if copper mining could be viable at Knockadoon, likely between 1825 and 1850, but I’ve been unable to find a reference to exact dates. The trial holes are partly hidden today by fallen slabs of rock. It is unclear if the trials were successful, or if any large scale copper mining ever actually took place, however that seems extremely unlikely.
This is further backed up by references to copper trials at Knockadoon by T.J. Duffy, when he wrote in a 1932 Geological Survey of Ireland report of one of the copper trials conducted at Knockadoon:
There is an old tunnel driven along the strike of a green grit bed in the face of the cliff above high-water mark. Owing to deep water in the tunnel the latter is accessible for a short distance only but apparently it is driven for a considerable distance. Some copper ore was formerly brought to the surface here, and a little residue of it can still be seen on top of the cliff. It does not appear to have been rich.
Copper deposits in Southwest Ireland, Geological Survey of Ireland, 1932
Have you ever heard stories of this mining activity in Knockadoon? I would love to add more information to this article if you have, get in contact.
References & Further Information
Griffith’s Valuation, Ask About Ireland
Mining Heritage in Ireland (Facebook Group)
Duffy, T. J. 1932. Copper deposits in Southwest Ireland. Geological Survey of Ireland Unpublished Report.