Silvermines, historically known as Bellagowan (), is a village in

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It lies immediately north of the

Silvermine Silvermine is a word used in numerous place names around the world. Hong Kong *Silvermine Bay, a bay in Mui Wo, Lantau Island * Silver Mine Bay Beach, also known as Silvermine Bay Beach Ireland *Silvermine Mountains, a mountain range in County T ...

mountain range and takes its name from the extensive mines of lead, zinc, copper,

baryte Baryte, barite or barytes ( or ) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate ( Ba S O4). Baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of the element barium. The ''baryte group'' consists of baryte, celestine (strontium sulfate), ...

and silver nearby. Towards the very south of the Silvermine Mountains is the highest peak in the mountains, ''

Keeper Hill Keeper Hill or Slievekimalta ()Slievekimalta or Keeper Hill

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Sliabh Cimeálta, which rises to 695m, dominating the area. Silvermines is located near the town of

Nenagh Nenagh (, ; or simply ''An tAonach'') meaning “The Fair of Ormond” or simply "The Fair", is the county town and second largest town in County Tipperary in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Nenagh used to be a market town, and the site of the ...

on the R499 regional road. It is a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

in the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe The Diocese of Killaloe ( ; ga, Deoise Chill Dalua) is a Roman Catholic diocese in mid-western Ireland, one of six suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Cashel and Emly. The cathedral church of the diocese is the Cathedral of S ...

and is also in the historical

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

Ormond Upper Ormond Upper (Irish: ''Urumhain Uachtarach'') is a barony in County Tipperary, Ireland. This geographical unit of land is one of 12 baronies in County Tipperary. Its chief town is Toomevara. The barony lies between Ormond Lower to the north (whos ...

Mining heritage

The earliest record of mining in the district is from

1289 Year 1289 ( MCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * June 11 – Battle of Campaldino: Pro-papal Guelph forces of Florence and the ...

, but was short-lived. Mining resumed in the 17th century and continued intermittently until 1874. It restarted in 1949, and shortly after a world-class deposit of baryte was found and opencast mining of this began in 1963 by Magcobar (Ireland) Ltd. Soon after a multi-million-tonne orebody grading about 11% combined lead and zinc was also discovered. This was worked underground from 1968 to 1982 by Mogul of Ireland Ltd. The Magcobar mine closed in September 1992, and its extensive spoil heaps are a prominent local landmark, visible for miles. The Mogul mine became famous for the many fine mineral specimens it produced, particularly of the ore minerals

galena Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It cryst ...

and

sphalerite Sphalerite (sometimes spelled sphaelerite) is a sulfide mineral with the chemical formula . It is the most important ore of zinc. Sphalerite is found in a variety of deposit types, but it is primarily in Sedimentary exhalative deposits, sedimen ...

. The Old Smelting House, now a ruin, is listed as a protected structure by

Tipperary County Council Tipperary County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Thiobraid Árann) is the authority responsible for Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local government in County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It came into operation on 3 June ...

(RPS Ref S477). Recently, the area has come to media attention as the integrity of the village's water supply was threatened by pollution from the

tailings In mining, tailings are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different to overburden, which is the waste rock or other material that overlie ...

left behind at the mine.

Transport

Freight trains no longer serve Silvermines.

Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Ireland, with the exception of Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subsidia ...

route 323 from

Newport, County Tipperary Newport (, formerly ) is a town in County Tipperary in Ireland. It is in the barony of Owney and Arra. At the 2016 Census the population was 1,995. Location It is located approximately 8 km from Birdhill and 16 km from Limerick. T ...

serves the village on Fridays-only. There is a journey at 11.00 am to

. This returns from

Nenagh railway station Nenagh railway station serves the town of Nenagh and surrounding area in County Tipperary, in the Mid-West Region of Ireland. The station is located on Martyrs Road, Tyone, Nenagh. It opened on the 5th of October 1863 and is on the Limerick- ...

at 1.45 pm, serving the village at 2.05 pm and continuing to Newport.

Slieve Felim Way

The Slieve Felim Way, a

long-distance trail A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents excep ...

through the Silvermine and

Slieve Felim Mountains The Slieve Felim Mountains ( ga, Sliabh Eibhlinne) are a mountain range in Munster, Ireland. They cover parts of County Limerick and County Tipperary. Historically, the name "Slieve Felim" meant the whole mountainous area between Murroe, Silvermi ...

has a trail-head in the village. It is designated as a National Waymarked Trail by the National Trails Office of the

Irish Sports Council Sport Ireland ( ga, Spórt Éireann), formerly the Irish Sports Council, is a statutory authority that oversees, and partly funds, the development of sport within Ireland. It is located at the National Sports Campus in the townland of Sheephill ...

and is managed by

Shannon Development Shannon Development (legally the ''Shannon Free Airport Development Company Limited'' formerly known as SFADCO) was an important regional development body for the Shannon Region of Ireland. Its area in the lower River Shannon basin comprised al ...

and

Coillte Coillte (; meaning "forests"/"woods") is a state-owned commercial forestry business in Ireland based in Newtownmountkennedy. Coillte manage approximately 7% of the country’s land, and operates three businesses - their core forestry business, a ...

References

{{Authority control Parishes of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe Towns and villages in County Tipperary

Mining heritage

Transport

Slieve Felim Way

See also

References