{"id":18594,"date":"2021-10-13T22:18:05","date_gmt":"2021-10-14T02:18:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=18594"},"modified":"2021-10-17T15:03:42","modified_gmt":"2021-10-17T19:03:42","slug":"episode-449-irish-stories-going-underground-in-1960","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=18594","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 449 IRISH STORIES GOING UNDERGROUND IN 1960"},"content":{"rendered":"
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EPISODE\u00a0449 \u00a0IRISH PICTURES 1960…GOING UNDERGROUND<\/p>\n
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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
oct. 2021<\/div>\n
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“Alan, would you like to see inside the old mine?”. \u00a0said Barne Dwan<\/div>\n
one afternoon as we had lunch on the cliff edge with the<\/div>\n
ruins of the Knockmahon Mine at our back.<\/div>\n
“Impossible, the mine was abandoned long<\/div>\n
ago in the 1870's.”<\/div>\n
“Easy to get inside … right beneath our feet is a hole.”<\/div>\n
“A hole?”<\/div>\n
“We can crawl inside…I've done it many times.”<\/div>\n
“A mine shaft…vertical?”<\/div>\n
“Nope, a hole …horizontal…think these holes were dug for ventilation.”<\/div>\n
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“Did you say “these holes”….more than one?”<\/div>\n
'There are a number of old entrances along these cliffs…some<\/div>\n
were even used as IRA hideouts in the Time of the Troubles..”<\/div>\n
“When can “we\u00a0do it, Barney?'<\/div>\n
“how about this evening?<\/div>\n
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The clifff\u00a0face was about 200 to 300 feet high … a broken face kind of<\/div>\n
cliff. \u00a0 It could be climbed. \u00a0 About halfway up the cliff was a kind of ledge at the back was our first “hole”<\/div>\n
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“I brought\u00a0flashlights, matches, candle, hard hats….all we need.”<\/div>\n
“Why the candle?”<\/div>\n
“Just to check the air a few times…if the candle won't light\u00a0or<\/div>\n
the candle goes out…we've got to get the hell out fast…no<\/div>\n
oxygen.” \u00a0 \u00a0(reminder of the Canary in the Coal Mine)<\/div>\n
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“Dark…black as the worst nightmare, Barney.\u00a0 The hole<\/div>\n
looks so tiny.”<\/div>\n
“It will get worse, Alan.”<\/div>\n
“If the ceiling collapses\u00a0who will ever find us?”<\/div>\n
“Our disappearance\u00a0will become a mystery … just another<\/div>\n
\u00a0of \u00a0the mysteries in Ireland.”<\/div>\n
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“Sow down…looks like the passage ends here.”<\/div>\n
“Bit of a rocka fall…we can squeeze by\u00a0on our stomachs Alan.”<\/div>\n
“Light the candle\u00a0first…there…air seems fine..bit\u00a0of a draft.”<\/div>\n
“Really tight to squeeze \u00a0through but seems to open up<\/div>\n
on the other side…flash light\u00a0over the rock fall.”<\/div>\n
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“We made it…we can now walk in \u00a0a crouch.”<\/div>\n
“The old miners were shorter people.”<\/div>\n
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“What's\u00a0that?”<\/div>\n
“:ladder pitched across a shaft..we have to use it to get across..”<\/div>\n
“Must be 100yersold, maybe rotten…we could fall down the shaft.”<\/div>\n
“We would not fa'll\u00a0far…look down.”<\/div>\n
:Water…clear clear water…mine must have filled with\u00a0<\/div>\n
water.”<\/div>\n
“So we would not die…maye drown though…how could<\/div>\n
we scale the walls of the shaft.”<\/div>\n
“could be done.\u00a0 Let's cross”<\/div>\n
“I think this is your ladder, Barney.”<\/div>\n
“Could be…could be.”<\/div>\n
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I do not remember\u00a0how far we got.\u00a0 I think we reached the<\/div>\n
maIn mne shaft but that could be my imagination.\u00a0 What I<\/div>\n
do remember are the colours. Lots of green oxidised\u00a0copper or<\/div>\n
and then great patches\u00a0of bright\u00a0pink that could have been<\/div>\n
cobalt bloom.\u00a0 Just a guess.<\/div>\n
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I remember that our trusty candle had no trouble<\/div>\n
stay<\/div>\n
ing\u00a0lit so the air was good. \u00a0\u00a0<\/div>\n
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“OK, Barney, let's get out of here.\u00a0 That rackfall\u00a0<\/div>\n
back there makes me a little queasy.\u00a0 Maye squeezing out will<\/div>\n
be harder than squewzing\u00a0in.<\/div>\n
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Outside night was getting\u00a0ready\u00a0to fall but the sun<\/div>\n
still bravely\u00a0shone. \u00a0 Easy to breathe.<\/div>\n
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Nice night.\u00a0 Great adventure.\u00a0 Was that really Barney's ladder or<\/div>\n
was it one of the ladders used by the mners\u00a0of 1870's who climbed<\/div>\n
up and down in the dark…down a hundred feet…maybe more and\u00a0<\/div>\n
hacked and exploded copper ore as they tunnelled under<\/div>\n
the ocean.\u00a0 Brav? \u00a0 No, wrong word.\u00a0 Desperate\u00a0is better. \u00a0<\/div>\n
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In 1960 those old adits were adventures.\u00a0 Today, in 2021,<\/div>\n
I am not sure I would\u00a0be as brave.\u00a0 Just suppose we fell off<\/div>\n
that ladder and died bobbing around\u00a0in the shaft\u00a0water.<\/div>\n
Or suppose my belt hooked on a loose piece of rock\u00a0that<\/div>\n
triggered a small avalanche trapping us…smothering us.<\/div>\n
Perish the thoughts.<\/div>\n
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That ladder?\u00a0 Was it \u00a0Barney's? \u00a0 Or was it left there by<\/div>\n
a miner long long ago?\u00a0 Rotten…dry rot.\u00a0 Take a close look.<\/div>\n
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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Irish stories<\/div>\n
Bunmahon, county Waterford<\/div>\n
Barney Dwan led the way.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPISODE\u00a0449 \u00a0IRISH PICTURES 1960…GOING UNDERGROUND alan skeoch oct. 2021 “Alan, would you like to see inside the old mine?”. \u00a0said Barne Dwan one afternoon as we had lunch on the cliff edge with the ruins of the Knockmahon Mine at our back. “Impossible, the mine was abandoned long ago in the 1870's.” “Easy to get […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18594"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18645,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18594\/revisions\/18645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}