{"id":5113,"date":"2020-06-30T10:38:23","date_gmt":"2020-06-30T14:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=5113"},"modified":"2020-06-30T11:04:10","modified_gmt":"2020-06-30T15:04:10","slug":"episode-78-lives-of-miners-in-bunmahon-ireland-1840-to-1875","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=5113","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 78 LIVES OF MINERS IN BUNMAHON IRELAND 1840 TO 1875"},"content":{"rendered":"
EPISODE 78   LIVES OF MINERS IN BUNMAHON  IRELAND  1840 TO 1875<\/p>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
June 29, 1960<\/div>\n

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WORKING CONDITIONS<\/div>\n

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This is a staged picture of  miners in the 1850\u2019s\u2026too well dressed\u2026too well fed\u2026in my opinion<\/div>\n

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The only thing wrong with this picture is the light.  There was no light in the Knockmahoon  mine except for<\/div>\n
the stink of the Tallow candles\u2026after a blast the miners could barely see 6 inches of light.   So imagine this<\/div>\n
picture with only a candle wedged into a bump in the rock.<\/div>\n

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1)  AT 6 A.M.  a bell was rung and the men began to defend the shaft ladders.  Men would step off<\/div>\n
the ladders at various levels as the vein of Chalcopyrite  was vertical.   The deepest wa 800 feet<\/div>\n
where the passageway extended under the ocean.   There were around a minimum of  370 men<\/div>\n
on the ladders.  Perhaps many more   The total work force  is not accurate known.<\/div>\n
The  descent was done in complete darkness.<\/div>\n

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2) Once at the level of their work  station the  six  man teams would pick their<\/div>\n
way through broken but non mineralized waste rock to the face of  the vein. where they<\/div>\n
would been punching holes using hammers and heavy sharpened  chisels.The punching<\/div>\n
would be done as circular as possible sine the hole must be packed with gunpowder then<\/div>\n
sealed with wet lay through which a blasting wick has  been forced.<\/div>\n

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3) Only the weak light of candles helped the miner get ready to blast chunks<\/div>\n
of ore from the vein.  Not good candles.  Rather they were tallow candles that<\/div>\n
the miners had to buy from the company.   The candles had two purposes\u2026light, and<\/div>\n
that was poor, and a test for oxygen.   If the candle would not light or kept  going out<\/div>\n
then there was cause for alarm because the oxygen had been  depleted and the<\/div>\n
miners could smother and  die without the candle warning.<\/div>\n

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4)  Then there was the  steady drip\u2026drip\u2026dripping as  ground water found its way to<\/div>\n
the stopes and  passageways.  The sucking  noise of the water pumps was comforting<\/div>\n
because it meant the water level was  under control.  If  the two steam<\/div>\n
engines high above stopped then the deep  parts of the mine<\/div>\n
would soon fill with water.  And that water level  would  keep going higher and<\/div>\n
higher.  Miners could and did drown in these condition in mines around the world<\/div>\n
but not at Knockmahon fortunately.<\/div>\n

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5) BLASTING: Gunpowder was stuffed in the  holes made by hammers and sharpened<\/div>\n
crowbars.  The miners paid the  mine  owners to sharpen the  crowbars.  Once filled, the <\/div>\n
hole was sealed with clay through which a length of blasting<\/div>\n
chord had been inserted.  when the  fuses were  lit the crews  moved<\/div>\n
well back into the passageways. safe distance.   All the teams are setting their<\/div>\n
explosives around the same time.  Onc  fuse is lit soon followed<\/div>\n
by  multiple  \u201cCracks, Roars and Rumbles\u201d as the high grade  ore is loosened<\/div>\n
from the face and tumbles to the floor,  \u201cThe smoke is so dense the miners cannot <\/div>\n
see a single object more than six inches from the flame of his candle.\u201d  \u201cThe smoke is<\/div>\n
inhaled  by himself and his comrades.\u201d    <\/div>\n

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In this dark and unholy place  the men gather the copper baring  ore and  manhandle  <\/div>\n
the chunks, often quite  large, to the main shaft where a lifting mechanism hauls<\/div>\n
it to the surface.   This  will occupy the teams for the next<\/div>\n
twelve hours until a signal is gven and the men retreat in the darkness to the ladders<\/div>\n
for the long climb out of the mine.  Young men first, Then those in their thirties and<\/div>\n
finally the old men in their forties.  The pay was good though\u2026better than any other<\/div>\n
local occupation.<\/div>\n

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Before leaving the mine head frame arrangements and  payments had<\/div>\n
to be made for the following  day.  Candles made  of animal fat would be<\/div>\n
needed no matter how foul they smelled.  And  Crowbars had to be sharpened and<\/div>\n
ready  for tomorrows shift.  Again payment had to be set<\/div>\n
aside.<\/div>\n

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GOING \u2018HOME\u2019 AFTER 12 HOUR SHIFTS<\/div>\n
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As the men gathered around the ladders changes in health became most evident.<\/div>\n
At the  ladders that men  begin to fail.  THE sick and the infirm had to confront these<\/div>\n
long wooden ladders.   In the dark a rung might be broken or the<\/div>\n
ladders may swing as the human procession makes the 45 minute climb to the open  air.<\/div>\n
This  was not easy even for the best of men.<\/div>\n

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Then they have the slow trudge to their homes some of which<\/div>\n
are miles away in  the case of local people.   The newcomers\u2026miners from Cornwall<\/div>\n
for instance, lived nearby in  the one roomed botthans or in two roomed cottages<\/div>\n
Many do not live in single family groups.  39 of the 70 bothers, for instance,  house<\/div>\n
two families.  Take a moment to imagine what that must be like\u2026wives and Children\u2026no<\/div>\n
privacy.  Religious leaders expressed concern about the morality ,.. rather  the immorality \u2026that must<\/div>\n
ensue from the human pyramids.<\/div>\n

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FROM WHISKY TO TEMPERANCE AT BUNMAHON<\/div>\n
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Some  men\u2026many men… did not go home directly.   Instead  they went directly to the pubs<\/div>\n
There were 21 of them, perhaps more than that even.  \u201cMINERS are a drnken and<\/div>\n
improvident race,\u201d cites Cowman from an observer of  miners social life.  One miner<\/div>\n
was heard to say that he regretted he was unable to spend all his money on alcohol.<\/div>\n
\u201cThe miners at Bunmahon,get great wages,\u201d commented the Catholic courate of<\/div>\n
Tramore, \u201cbut they spend their money very much on liquor.\u201d<\/div>\n
Payday consumption of whisky was estimated  at 300 gallons.    At lot of these<\/div>\n
miners from Bunmahon and surrounding villages were very drunk a<\/div>\n
lot of the time which played havoc with their family life.<\/div>\n

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Alcohol  consumption among these minters in the early 1840\u2019s was  out of control.   And then<\/div>\n
this  strange thing happened.  The Temperance movement reached the miners.   Now this was<\/div>\n
unusual since these miners  were largely illiterate and  many were rejected  by the large<\/div>\n
affluent society elsewhere in Ireland.   As one source stated, Bumahon was \u201ca wretched\u201d<\/div>\n
community \u2026 poverty stricken.   The copper mine changed things.   Money flowed.  And<\/div>\n
so did whisky \u2026  for a while.<\/div>\n

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Then came Temperance.   Some  Irish  had  a momentous change in their lives.<\/div>\n
One family, for instance, were so impoverished  by alcoholism that they had no<\/div>\n
furnishings. \u201cNot even a pot to cook potatoes\u201d\/<\/div>\n
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Temperane leaders changed this remarkably.  Foremost was  the Catholic church but <\/div>\n
there were others among the secular community that believed earnestly that drink was<\/div>\n
the curse of society.  In Bunmahon it suddenly became unfashionable to drink.  Families<\/div>\n
were strengthened.  Pubs went bankrupt.  As mentioned there had been more that 21<\/div>\n
pubs in tiny Bunmahon.  This number dropped to one pub and several semi secret source<\/div>\n
of alcohol.  <\/div>\n

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The advertisement below for GREAT COZA as a cure for alcohol consumption is<\/div>\n
fascinating.  I do not know what Great Coza was\u2026perhaps you can fine out.  But the<\/div>\n
advertisement from London,  England, was just one of the efforts to turn people away<\/div>\n
from rampant alcohol consumption.  We are all familiar with the Gin Lane engraving<\/div>\n
done by William Hogarth  in the 18th century.  Similar condemnations of alcohol spread through<\/div>\n
the 19th century communities none I  might say  changed more dramatically than<\/div>\n
Bunmahon.  <\/div>\n

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\"The
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Another advertisement promoted  coffee drinking as one way to stem the flow of alcohol.   Maybe that<\/div>\n
is what the Great Coza was.<\/div>\n
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\"Theobald_MathewTheobald_Mathew_by_Edward_Daniel_Leahy\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Portrait of Theobald Mathew by Edward Daniel Leahy<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
“In 1840 tea-totalling or temperance was high on the agenda in Irish society as new groups began to form to promote the abstaining way of life. Father Theobald Mathew, after whom Mathew Bridge<\/a> was named during his life time was the tee-totalling reformer of the period. He was born in 1790 in Thomastown near Golden, Co. Tipperary and in 1814 he was ordained. As his brother-in-law William Dunbar operated a provisions store on Michael Street, Fr Mathew would often visit Limerick. Dunbar was involved in shipping large consignments from Limerick to Jamaica.
On 10 April 1838 Fr Mathew founded the \u201cCork Total Abstinence Society\u201d, which in less than nine months enrolled no fewer than 150,000 names. It rapidly spread to Limerick and elsewhere in the country and within a few years it spread internationally, the movement became known as the Total Abstinence Society or the Temperance Society. It was said that in Nenagh 20,000 persons took the pledge in one day. While 100,000 took it in Galway in two days, and 70,000 in Dublin in five days. At its height, in 1844, the movement had some 3 million pledges, or more than half of the adult population\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The most cruel of events happened in Ireland at the same time that the Temperance movement was<\/div>\n
taking root.  What cruel event?   The 1846 Great Potatoe Famine.   One effect of the famine was<\/div>\n
the total disappearance of the 70 bothers (one room houses) in the community of Bunmahon.<\/div>\n
Where  did they go?  Many in Ireland died of starvation.   But through the whole period of the<\/div>\n
great Famine, the mines at Knockmahon and Tankardstown were in full operation.  A mystery<\/div>\n
yet to be explored.<\/div>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
June 2020<\/div>\n

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END EPISODE 78<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPISODE 78   LIVES OF MINERS IN BUNMAHON  IRELAND  1840 TO 1875 alan skeoch June 29, 1960 WORKING CONDITIONS This is a staged picture of  miners in the 1850\u2019s\u2026too well dressed\u2026too well fed\u2026in my opinion The only thing wrong with this picture is the light.  There was no light in the Knockmahoon  mine except for […]<\/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-5113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5113","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=5113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5113\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}