Allihies Copper Mine Museum

Copper was mined at Allihies from 1812, when the Puxley family opened works on ground that had been worked for copper in the Bronze Age, and at its height around fifteen hundred people worked the mines - in a place that now has a village of a few dozen. Cornish miners were brought in for their expertise and the engine houses on the hillsides are Cornish in design; the ruined Man Engine house above the village is the landmark. Conditions were severe and child labour was normal. The mines closed in 1884, and many of the miners went to Butte, Montana, where they and their descendants made up a substantial part of the copper workforce; the connection between the two places is still maintained. The museum occupies a deconsecrated Methodist church built for the Cornish miners, and a waymarked trail runs from it up to the engine houses and the spoil beaches. Shafts on the hillside are unfenced in places.

What you actually see

• The engine houses - Cornish-designed ruins on the hillsides above the village.
• The Butte connection - miners who left here for Montana's copper.
• The Methodist church - built for the Cornish workforce, now the museum.
• The mine trail - waymarked from the village up through the workings.

When to go

April to October; the museum is seasonal and Beara is a long drive from anywhere. The trail is exposed and boggy in wet weather.

Honest expectations

Seasonal opening only. Old shafts on the hillside are a genuine hazard - keep to the marked trail. Allihies is remote with very limited services. The museum itself is small.

Nearby

Dursey Island and its cable car are west; Castletownbere and the Healy Pass are east.