THE METAL MINES OF WEST CORK by Diane Hodnett, [2010] 288 pp, 230 figs, some in colour. SB. The Trevithick Society, Cornwall. £16.99 avaiable from Mike Moore.

Any book on the mines of Ireland is of interest and this latest book provides a mine [pun intended] of information. Although the book mainly describes the history of the 19th century metalliferous mines of West Cork in terms of their location, periods of operation, tonnage of ore produced and numbers of workers employed, it also included the latest information on underground exploration. Although many mines have long since fallen in or have been filled in, many adits are still open and ripe for exploration. An example of this is the Dhurode Copper Mine. Page 77, Fig 48 shows the lower adit wide open, but the text says, “The mine was not entered”. Perhaps the author like me does not like getting her feet wet. But there again here is the following warning:

“All abandoned underground mine workings in Ireland belong to the State. The Mining Heritage Trust of Ireland (MHTI) has been given permission by the Exploration and Mining Division of the Department of Marine and Natural Resources to access working for official MHTI business. Access is conditional upon following NAMHO guidelines for the leisure use of abandoned mines, the MHTI safety policy, insurance in the name of the Minister to indemnify liability, prior notice of access and permission from the landowner. Membership of the MHTI is mandatory.”

I think the editor had a bad hair day when editing this book. I found it difficult to follow the footnotes in the text. I prefer them to be listed on the same pages, as it saves turning to end of each chapter. Some I could not find anywhere eg: page 52 list footnotes up to 24, 25 etc, but the end of the chapter only lists 1 to 3.

Page 85 records “He died at Roaring Water Mine ... with his brother Captain William Thomas at his bedside” Fig 143 show the author exploring a mine in plimsolls with a dog at her side.

Page 201 is another example of poor editing, Fig 156 is too small to read, the accounts are split up on two pages, and Fig 159, page 205 would better be described as “Find the mine explorer”. Because I could not.

Many mines have been omitted like: Aghadown, Cahermore, etc, etc. Apart from this, this book is a very welcome update to the metal mines of West Cork.

TO

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