RTÉ series shines spotlight on Leitrim's industrial heritage
RTÉ's Building Ireland explored how the Lough Allen Basin powered Leitrim's mining industry and transformed the region's economy.
The story of the Lough Allen Basin and its role in transforming Leitrim into one of Ireland's industrial centres was brought to a national audience in the latest episode of RTÉ's Building Ireland, highlighting the county's mining legacy and the industries that shaped generations of local communities.
The story of the Lough Allen Basin and its role in transforming Leitrim into one of Ireland's industrial centres was brought to a national audience in the latest episode of RTÉ's Building Ireland, highlighting the county's mining legacy and the industries that shaped generations of local communities.
Leitrim and Roscommon took centre stage on Tuesday night in episode two of the new RTÉ series Building Ireland.
The episode explored the story of the Lough Allen Basin and how access to the River Shannon helped transform Leitrim into an industrial powerhouse, driving mining, transport and economic growth.
The story of the Lough Allen Basin was a major driver of economic growth in the north west and was tied directly to the rise and fall of Leitrim's fortunes.
The basin, with its rich deposits of iron and coal, abundant water and access to the River Shannon, helped transform Leitrim into a centre of industrial mining that eventually came to an end in 1990 with the closure of the Arigna mines.
The mines operated for more than 400 years, shaping the surrounding economy and culture while providing employment for hundreds of people. Generations followed family members into the industry.
"The younger lads followed their fathers and grandfathers into the mines because that's what they knew, that's what they were hearing at home, you know, and that was the main industry in the area," said Valerie Stenson, manager of the Arigna Mining Experience.
The Lough Allen Canal was constructed in the early nineteenth century to connect these resources to the Shannon navigation system, opening a vital route to market and helping fuel industrial expansion far beyond Leitrim.
"The lake was used as transport; coal was taken away too. So it was huge. It was very, very important, the Lough Allen Basin and the industry that developed around it," she said.
Even with the canal in place, moving coal from the mountains remained a major challenge. The arrival of narrow-gauge rail transformed the economics of mining, linking Arigna to wider markets while also supplying coal to Drumshanbo.
By the final years of mining, production was largely supplying industrial coal to the ESB generating station at Lough Allen. The mines closed in 1990.
Presenters Architect Orla Murphy, Engineer Tim Joyce and Geographer Susan Hegarty explored how the unique geography of the Lough Allen Basin underpinned generations of industry in the area.
Architect Orla Murphy traced how this industrial wealth reshaped the built environment of the region, focusing on Kilronan Castle, built in the 1820s by the Dunas family. The house was later sold to the Tenison family, the Earls of Kingston, whose wealth was connected to the area's natural resources.
"The Tenisons were more of an economic and a more commercial family whose wealth was really built and connected to the exploitation of those local mineral resources," Murphy told the Observer.
That mining wealth transformed a country estate into one of the grandest houses in the region and made it a focal point of the local economy, with people from the area working in the house, the mines and on the surrounding farms.
The house also reflected the area's colonial past. "There was a move towards the setting up of a new Irish state that really wanted to distance itself from the legacy of big houses," said Murphy.
"I think it probably still it does a disservice maybe to all of the people from the local area, the people in local villages who would have been connected to the house, to the people who work there and work the landscape as well because remember these big houses don't just stand on their own."
Economic decline and changing land ownership eventually brought the house's fortunes to an end and it fell into ruin before being restored in the early 2000s. Kilronan Castle now operates as a hotel and continues to contribute to the local economy.
The series is available to watch on the RTÉ Player.