Silver Mines

Silver and lead ore were mined at Barrystown from 1551-53, and probably before that date. Dutch miners under their Captain, Joachim Gundelfinger, had been brought in to operate the mines in two shifts per day of fourteen men, but it was never profitable. Disagreements between the Dutch Captain and the King’s Surveyor, Robert Recorde, led to delays and mismanagement over a smelter that was needed to process the ore. A plan to connect the mines with Clonmines c. 850m to the NW by a bridge across the Owenduff/Corock river was not carried out, but the mines would have provided a boost for the town. Mining was possibly resumed in the 1560s under a concession leased by Walter Peppard (Hore 1901-11, vol. 2, 233-61). Robert Leigh writing in 1684 describes five or six large pits that produced more lead than silver, and says the mines were abandoned when they became flooded (Hore 1858-9, 455). The mines were also worked 1804-12 under George Ogle and again 1845-50 by the Barrystown Mining Company under the management of a Mr. Angove. Four mine-shafts are marked on the 1839 ed. of the OS 6-inch map at the bottom of a W-facing slope on the E shore at the inner end of Bannow Bay. The mineshafts are now back filled, but the hollows of some are still visible. An engine house (ext. dims 6.05m E-W; 5.75m N-S) with a chimney stack (ext. diam. of base c. 2.85m; surviving H c. 13m) at the NW angle that was built by the Mining Company is on the site. (Butler 1985, 173-6) Archaeological monitoring (18E0411) of works connected with the erection of a sea wall L c. 150m) just to the SW produced no related material. (Henry 2018; excavations.ie 2018:110) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Wexford' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1996).