Yesterday was supposed to be a work day, but as it was technically the last day of the summer, my brother and I took off to explore the Barite mines in the Darty Mountains in Sligo. We approached from the other side of Slievemore, coming up the Gleniff Horse shoe valley. From this side there is an old road that led from the valley floor to the mining operations at the top of Slievemore. Unfortunately this road runs through private property and the owner doesn’t want people using it. Luckily we met the farmer before starting and he waved us off! The road is now mostly overgrown, and in parts doesn’t look like a road at all, as floods have turned it into a riverbed.
Mining has been going on in the valley for over 150 years, and while there is the remains of a fairly recent mining operation at the top, throughout the valley there are mine shafts that were in use in the 1800s. Our plan was to try find some of these early mine operations and have an explore. This valley also has Diarmaid and Grainne’s cave, though not strictly under the remit of an Urban Explorer is worth a visit. I haven’t found any historical evidence of mining taking place inside the cave, but there are a serious amount of chambers and tunnels inside, that are well worth a look.
This is the view from the approach on the Gleniff side
In this picture you can just about see the 3 black dots at the bottom of the cliff face in the centre of the picture. Just above them and slightly to the left is the entrance the mine
This is the closed up entrance to one of the early mine shafts from the 1800s. To get to here the miners used ladders, and according to one historian they had a wood walkway constructed down to the mine from the top of the mountain.
Following the roadway up about a quarter of the way, you can see whats left of a road way over to the foot of the cliffs
From underneath the cliffs, the 3 dots we can just about see from the second picture are a little closer. There are still two steel cables coming down from the cliff face and the closed off mine, further up the cliff face
The three shaft entrances up close and personal. The one on the top right is the one that can be seen from the road, and goes in for about 5 metres, the one in the upper left only about a meter or so….
but this mine shaft goes in for quite a bit. The entrance was flooded, but once inside its fairly dry going. I would say that the mine goes in for about 100-125 metres.
You can see the drill marks on the walls
The cables leading down the mountain. Originally the barite was sent down in buckets. A railway system was used to bring the barite to the port of mullaghmore, and coal to power the drilling machinery
Its steep climb to get to this mine, and there is quite a drop if you fall!
There are supposedly quite a few mineshafts around the Gleniff valley. We tried to reach this one but couldn’t, as the ground was slippy underneath. We think that it definately was a mineshaft due to the barite spoil on the ground around the entrance
After exploring this mine, we treked around to the most recent mining works for an explore. Open cast mining was carried out in the past and the cleft that can be seen at the top of the mountain runs north/south with the seam of barite.
This is the remains of one of the open cast clefts, to the left of the mine entrance.
Further down from the cleft above, is one of the earliest open cast clefts from the 1800s.
In one of these is a section that drops down about thirty or forty feet. Be vary careful
From inside the mine, this gulley leads to the surface, and is in line with the vein of barite, from the last two pictures
Beneath the gulley
The GPS watch said that we covered just under 15 kilometres from start to finish, and it took us six and half hours. If you fancy trying to visit the first mine on the Gleniff side, be extremely careful. The ground is fairly wet and loose in places, and the death factor is fairly high! Wear proper hiking shoes/boots as your feet will get wet, no matter how careful you are. Keep your hands free and keep a hand hold as you walk. Bring good torches, and plenty of food!