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 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. It lies immediately north of the Silvermine 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 Sliabh Cimeálta, which rises to 695m, dominating the area. Silvermines is located near the town of Nenagh 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 ...

in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe 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 (who ...

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 their ...

, 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 cr ...

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, Mississippi-V ...

. The Old Smelting House, now a ruin, is listed as a protected structure by Tipperary County Council (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 ove ...

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 subsidi ...

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. ...

to Nenagh serves the village on Fridays-only. There is a journey at 11.00 am to Nenagh. 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 The Slieve Felim way is a long-distance trail through the Slieve Felim Mountains in Ireland. It is long and begins in Murroe, County Limerick and ends in Silvermines, County Tipperary. It is typically completed in two days. It is designated ...

, 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 exc ...

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, Silver ...

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 ...

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, ...

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