The barytes mine at Glencar is, along with Silvermines in Co Tipperary, one the most significant mine systems that can be explored in Ireland. We may not have the same rich industrial mining heritage as England but Glencar displays the classic mine layout, complete with underground tunnels, vertical shafts, a miners hostel and miner’s break room, ore crushers and processing plants, dynamite storage rooms, bucket pylon lift systems, right down to the workers’ toilets.
It is a place full of nostalgia and abandonment, that should be preserved and protected as a testament to the hard work of the local people who effectively ran Europe’s largest barytes mine at the time of operation. Despite the local Arigna Mines receiving such protection, I do not foresee the Glencar mines ever receive the same attention as, being located high in the mountains and far beyond the reaches of most day-trippers and tourists, the local and national government see no money making opportunities in Glencar and for this reason it is likely to fall further into decay until it is ghost of memory.
Caves Of Ireland 