Glendalough Mining tunnels.

CardinalJ

Has anyone gone anything more that a few meters into the mine tunnels in Glendalough? I was up in two of the tunnels this weekend but was reluctant to go too far in given the obvious danger.

I went into one which had a shaft that ended up covering half of the floor. The hole I would guess was about 40/50m deep given how long a small stone took to reach the bottom. You could walk past it however the floor beside it appeared to possibly be made of wood and I had no interest in standing on it.

I then went into a much bigger tunnel that was flooded so I didn't go more than 10m in given I did't want to trudge around in wet boots for the rest of the day. I do think you could go in a lot more and it looks like people have gone in.

So anyone have any information?

Gasherbraun

Not sure I would fancy it ....I have been in abandoned mines in Cornwall just before they were allowed to flood and I never got the attraction. It is quite possible that the Glendlough / Glendasin mine complex was deliberately blocked when mining ceased

I am sure you are aware of the obvious risks involved in entering abandoned mines.

Not sure how active these people are but they probably know as much as anyone about the mines. They did also produce a DVD about 10 years ago.

Glendalough Mining Heriitage Project Committee
c/o The Glendalough Hotel
Glendalough
Co. Wicklow
Ireland

info@glendaloughmines.com[/email]

CardinalJ

Gasherbraun wrote:

It is quite possible that the Glendlough / Glendasin mine complex was deliberately blocked when mining ceased

I've been told you can go quite far into them but I'm totally out of my element and my experience extends to a few guided trips caving years ago.

Gasherbraun wrote:

I am sure you are aware of the obvious risks involved in entering abandoned mines.

Yea mines not the places to be messing around in unless you've a lot of gear and knowledge. For this reason I didn't put up photos that might show the enterance to them.

hmmm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoLq7u5jrsA

ThisRegard

I can only imagine how horrible working in those mines must have been with the noise and dust back in the 50s.

It's bugging the crap out of me that the video ended just before we got to see where they came out of.

Alun

ThisRegard wrote: »

It's bugging the crap out of me that the video ended just before we got to see where they came out of.

The title mentioned Glendasan, so I'm fairly sure it's down by the old Lead Mine ruins by the car park on the Wicklow Gap road. I spend quite a bit of time there (helping with SARDA dog training) and have often met cavers there and when asked what they were doing they have told me they've been exploring the old mine workings there. They seemed to be looking in the area before you get to the car park itself between the road and St. Kevin's Way. There's also a giant fenced off hole there which presumably also leads to a mine.

ThisRegard

I was only in that area the weekend and saw a couple of lead mines marked on the map around St Kevins Way and Tonelagee.

CardinalJ

That video is great. Where they are coming out looks very like one of the tunnels on the glendalough side.

Amazing how far they go in.

I also find it interesting how the mines are still just sitting there open. Not everyone would give them the respect they deserve in terms of how dangerous they are.

Alun

CardinalJ wrote: »

That video is great. Where they are coming out looks very like one of the tunnels on the glendalough side.

It's on the other side of Camaderry, i.e. Glendasan as mentioned in the title of the video.

Additionally, if you look very carefully on the E-W Mapping map of the area just to the south of the Lead Mines car park on the Wicklow gap road you'll see a small circle marked "Moll Doyle" which ties in with the the name of one of the adits (mine entrances) mentioned in title of the video. The underground routes of the adits are marked on the map too as a faint grey dashed line.

Alun

Interesting document here about the mining in that area.

http://www.heritagecouncil.ie/fileadmin/user_upload/Publications/County_Heritage_Services/Wicklow/Mining_Heritage_of_Co_Wicklow.pdf

One interesting snippet from that article is that apparently a tunnel was built connecting the two sites in Glendasan and Glendalough. I assume it's long since collapsed.

Also some interesting stuff here too ...

https://www.facebook.com/GlensOfLead/

Carawaystick

Its worth noting these were lead mines which is a fairly toxic element
Not much growing on the spoil after a hundred plus years
https://www.google.ie/maps/place/Glenmalure,+Co.+Wicklow/@52.9730197,-6.3885189,3a,66.8y,31.47h,102.54t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1snLZw8mIbvBgwrR6UGhRqlg!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0x486796b70f164fd3:0x1800c7a937df3730

https://www.google.ie/maps/place/Glenmalure,+Co.+Wicklow/@53.0088963,-6.3722013,17z/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x486796b70f164fd3:0x1800c7a937df3730

https://www.google.ie/maps/place/Glenmalure,+Co.+Wicklow/@53.0231067,-6.3596826,3a,66.8y,108.86h,115.42t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sDhkAGxWhVdvJB0FxAczuaw!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0x486796b70f164fd3:0x1800c7a937df3730

MarkAyt148

Just up there fairly recently and visited two of the adits you are talking about in the Glendalough valley mine, I have never been in a good distance into any of the Glendalough mines, but I have went deep into one of the adits in Foxrock mine in Glendasan on the slopes of Brockagh mountain. It's quite interesting to see if you like caving or exploring abandoned places. Look up Glendalough Valley mine second adit on youtube, it is a short video I made with a quick history of the mines and a short clip inside one of the adits.

westwicklow

I cannot seem to find your video online MarkAyt148.

MarkAyt148

westwicklow wrote: »

I cannot seem to find your video online MarkAyt148.

Look up my channel 'Wicklow CnW'. The video is titled 'Glendalough Valley Mine' and has red writing in the thumbnail.

westwicklow

Thank you very much.