TV show to document mining in Allihies

A documentary on the history of mining in the beautiful Beara village of Allihies will be broadcast this Thursday on Cork Community Television. 'Allihies Copper Mines' tells the story of the Cornish miners who moved to the beautiful Beara peninsula to work in the mines there in the early 1800s.

The Cornish workers built their own school and Methodist chapel, which today holds the Allihies Copper Mine Museum.

The mines opened in 1812 and eventually, the mines employed more than 1,500 people. The mines eventually closed in 1884. There were five separate mines in the Allihies area.

The documentary will be broadcast on Thursday 16 August at 8pm. It is presented by Tadhg O’Sullivan and features local historian, Connie Murphy and Theo Dahlke, curator of the Allihies Copper Mine Museum.

This documentary highlights the impact copper mining had on both the people of the area and also the landscape. Theo Dahlke goes through the mining process and the innovative engine houses that are still to be seen around Allihies.

Among these is the large engine house at Mountain Mine is known as the ‘Man Engine House’. This engine house was built in 1862, to operate the newly invented system of lowering and lifting the miners to and from the mines. It is the only man engine house in Ireland and one of only a few surviving in the world.

Finally, the show highlights the working and living conditions of the miners and their families through the examination of records which are housed in the Allihies Copper Mine Museum.

The programme has been produced by Cork Community Television and is funded under the Sound & Vision scheme, an initiative of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. Cork Community Television, a not-for-profit community television station, is broadcast on Channel 803 on the UPC digital cable network and is also streamed online on www.corkcommunitytv.ie.