This was an unexpected stop. We didn't know of the existence of this place, we were just driving along the coast in this area when we saw the old buildings and decided to have a look at them.
This is a really nice and interesting example of industrial archaeology.
In 1824, two mining companies were established with an Act of Parliament, the MCI and the HMC. Both companies took out leasing in the area of Bunmahon, but MCI was luckier and found the richest copper lode in 1829.
The equipment for mining the lode was operated by steam and water. A copper yard was built at Stage Cove. From there the ore was shipped to Swansea for smelting, and from Swansea the coal for the steam equipment was imported. Another rich lode was discovered in 1850's in Tankardstown and this became the most important vein of the production for MCI until 1875, when the mine was closed.
Efforts to re-open the mine was made in 1905, but they were unsuccessful.
It seems, though, that the ruinous buildings have been partially restored in the last few years, and now they are an interesting attraction on the Waterford coast.
The abandoned structure was used as one of the filming locations for the movie "The McKenzie Break" (1970), by Lamont Johnson. Towards the end of the movie an old truck was driven into the shaft of this mine where it exploded. The wreckage wasn't recovered at the end of the production and now it's the support for soil and rubbish dumped into the shaft since.
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