Bunmahon

Bunmahon (Irish: Bun Machan, meaning 'river-mouth of Mahon'),[1] also called Bonmahon, is a coastal village in County Waterford, Ireland, at the mouth of the River Mahon. During the 19th century, when copper mines operated in the area, Bonmahon was a mining village. As of the 21st century, the village and its beach lie on a tourist route.[2]

Bonmahon
Bun Machan
Village
Main Street
Main Street
Bonmahon is located in Ireland
Bonmahon
Bonmahon
Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 52°08′24″N 7°22′19″W
CountryIreland
ProvinceMunster
CountyCounty Waterford
Time zoneUTC+0 (WET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-1 (IST (WEST))

History
Men at Bonmahon Mines in the early 1900s

Evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of Ogham stone and ringfort sites in the surrounding townlands of Ballynagigla and Knockmahon.[3]

Bonmahon was a mining village for much of the 19th century, and copper and lead was mined here between 1827 and 1877. Much of the village was laid-out in this period,[4][5] and the local Church of Ireland church was built in the 1820s.[6] A temperance hall was built in the village in 1842, and this was converted during the 1850s to become St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church.[7][8] The population of the village swelled to over 2,000 at that time. The village was home to a pawn shop, a creamery and a bacon factory, as well as 21 public houses.

The history and mining activity of this period is covered in The Making and Breaking of a Mining Community, published in 2006.[9] One of the mine workers was Thomas Wheatley, whose son John Wheatley later went on to be Minister for Health for the first Labour Party government in the United Kingdom in 1924.

Public meeting involving mining company staff held in Bonmahon in 1906

Places of interest

Bunmahon lies within a UNESCO Global Geopark. The Copper Coast Geopark operates a visitor centre in the village's former Church of Ireland church. The Copper Coast is home to several beaches and wildlife, including foxes, rabbits, and diverse bird species.

The local beach is used by surfers use all year round, and a surfing school runs in the summer months. The village's Tidy Towns committee has created a boardwalk along the sand dunes, as well as working to improve access to the neighbouring cove of Tra na mBó. The beach and surrounding coast is covered by the Bonmahon Unit of the Irish Coast Guard.[10]

See also

References
  1. "Bun Machan / Bunmahon". logainm.ie. Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  2. "Copper Coast Drive". dungarvantourism.com. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  3. Moore, Michael, ed. (1999). Archaeological Inventory of County Waterford. Archaeological Survey of Ireland. Government Stationery Office. ISBN 9780707662152.
  4. "Copper Coast, Templeyvrick, Bunmahon, Waterford". buildingsofireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  5. "Mining Office, Ballynagigla, Knockmahon, Waterford". buildingsofireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  6. "Knockmahon Church, Ballynasissala, Knockmahon, Waterford". buildingsofireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  7. "Copper Coast - St. Mary's Church, Saleen, Bonmahon". copper-coast.com. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007.
  8. "Saint Mary's Catholic Church, Kilduane, Knockmahon, Waterford". buildingsofireland.ie. National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  9. The Making and Breaking of a Mining Community : the Copper Coast, Co. Waterford 1825-1875. Mining Heritage Trust of Ireland. 2006. ISBN 0-9534538-3-9.
  10. "Bunmahon Coast Guard Unit (Volunteer Cliff and Coastal Rescue Service of the Irish Coast Guard; IRCG)". Archived from the original on 9 November 2009. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
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