Historic Mines Rehabilitation

The government undertakes to address essential health and safety works to make safe hazards arising from adits, shafts, and unstable spoil heaps, and provision of fencing and signage for historic mine sites in Ireland. There are 27 historic mines sites in Ireland, of which the highest risk sites are Silvermines and Avoca.

Since 1720, mining has played a large role in the economy of Avoca, Co. Wicklow. Among the minerals produced in the last two centuries, copper has been primarily mined along with silver and to a lesser extent gold. The mine area was subdivided into a number of properties in the 18th and 19th centuries, each named after the townlands in which they were located. From northeast to southwest, these were Connary, Cronebane, Tigroney on the eastern side of the river, and Ballygahan and Ballymurtagh on the western side. The Avoca River in Co. Wicklow which flows southwards through the Avoca mine site is overlooked by upland areas known as the East and West Avoca mine areas.

Pollution of the Avoca River by mine water discharging from drainage adits of abandoned copper and sulphur mines at Avoca is a long recognised problem. The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications has undertaken feasibility planning for rehabilitation options, and continues environmental monitoring at the site.

The feasibility study completed in 2008 recommends active treatment of the point discharges into the Avoca River as well as treating the principal (spoil piles) cause of the contamination. This feasibility study also recognises the importance of the diffuse flow and contaminated sediments and provides recommendations for these also. The feasibility study is due to be updated.

The 2008 feasibility study reports can be downloaded as PDF files from the links below:

A comprehensive Health and Safety audit of Avoca mines was also carried out in 2007.

An Architectural Heritage Assessment was carried out in 2017.

Environmental monitoring reports from 2013 to 2021 are available below.

The Silvermines area of north County Tipperary has been mined intermittently for over one thousand years for a range of commodities. Lead, zinc, copper, silver, barite and sulphur were exploited from a number of different sites, covering an area of approximately 2,300ha. The mining sites include Ballygown, Garryard, Gorteenadiha, Magcobar and Shallee South/East. The last working mine, a barite operation at Magcobar, closed in 1993. Just over a decade previously, the final base metal mine shut down, following the cessation of underground operations by Mogul Mines Ltd (Mogul) at Garryard. The latter operation resulted in the generation of significant volumes of fine to coarse grained sand particles referred to as 'tailings'. Approximately 8Mt of such tailings were deposited in a specially constructed, 60ha tailings management facility (TMF) at Gortmore. Rehabilitation works have been completed at various localities including Gortmore TMF, with the site work administered by then North Tipperary County Council on behalf of the Department. To date this rehabilitation work has included capping and vegetating of the surface, drainage improvement, remedial works to wetlands at the TMF, fencing/capping of mine shafts and adits and the filling of a pit at Ballygown.

This Department has undertaken feasibility planning for rehabilitation options, and continues environmental monitoring at the site.

The feasibility study completed in 2002 presented conceptual designs for the management and rehabilitation of the Silvermines region. The feasibility study is due to be updated.

The 2002 feasibility study reports can be downloaded as PDF files from the links below.

Environmental monitoring reports from 2013 to 2021 are available below.