Editing Silvermines (section)

==History==
===Early history===
Evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of [[ringfort]], [[castle]] and [[bawn]] sites in the [[townland]]s of Ballygown South, Gortshaneroe and Cloonanagh.<ref>{{cite book | title = The Archaeological Inventory of County Tipperary. Vol. 1 - North Tipperary | editor1-first = Jean | editor1-last = Farrelly | editor2-first = Caimin | editor2-last = O'Brien | place = Dublin | publisher = Government Stationery Office | date = 2002 }}</ref> Historically known as Bellagowen or Ballygown ({{Irish derived place name|Béal Átha Gabhann|approach to the ford of the smith}},<ref name="logainm"/><ref>{{cite book | title = The Civil Survey, A.D. 1654-1656: County of Tipperary | via = Irish Manuscripts Commission | date = 1934 | page = 244 }}</ref> the area has been named for its association with the nearby Silvermines since at least the 17th century.<ref name="logainm"/> The village itself largely dates from development in the late 18th century.<ref name="FarrellyOBrienExtract">{{citation | title = Miner's settlement, Ballygown South,Cloonanagh,Garryard East, County Tipperary North | url = https://portal.ariadne-infrastructure.eu/resource/c176ecefe89aa51bc6d24ba6633f2b1b8250ebe36eb6261f85a23b5c775193f0 | work = The Archaeological Inventory of County Tipperary. Vol. 1 - North Tipperary | editor1-first = Jean | editor1-last = Farrelly | editor2-first = Caimin | editor2-last = O'Brien | via = portal.ariadne-infrastructure.eu }}</ref>

===Mining heritage===
[[File:TheSilverMiner3087.jpg|thumb|left|upright|alt=Statue of miner with raised pick|Monument commemorating local miners]]
Some records suggest that there was mining in the district as early as the 13th or 14th century.<ref name="FarrellyOBrienExtract"/> However, this may have been short-lived.{{fact|date=May 2025}}

Mining resumed in the 17th century and continued intermittently until the late 19th century. A number of ruined industrial buildings in the area date from the late 1880s.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/22307010/silvermines-calamine-and-lead-mines-ballygown-south-silvermines-co-tipperary-north | website = buildingsofireland.ie | publisher = National Inventory of Architectural Heritage | title = Silvermines Calamine and Lead Mines, Ballygown South, Silvermines, Tipperary North | accessdate = 9 May 2025 }}</ref>

Mining activity restarted in 1949, and shortly after a world-class deposit of baryte was found and opencast mining of this began in 1963 by Magcobar (Ireland) Ltd.  Soon after a multi-million-tonne orebody grading about 11% combined lead and zinc was also discovered.  This was worked underground from 1968 to 1982 by Mogul of Ireland Ltd.  The Magcobar mine closed in September 1992, and its extensive spoil heaps are a prominent local landmark, visible for miles.  The Mogul mine became well known for the quality of the mineral specimens it produced, particularly of the ore minerals [[galena]] and [[sphalerite]].<ref>{{citation | last = Moreton | first = S. | date = 1999 | title = The Silvermines District, County Tipperary, Ireland | work = Mineralogical Record, vol. 30 | pages = 99-106}}</ref>

The area's Old Smelting House, now a ruin, is listed as a protected structure by [[Tipperary County Council]] (RPS Ref S477).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tipperarycoco.ie/sites/default/files/Publications/NTCC%20Register%20of%20Protected%20Structures_0.pdf|title=NTCC Register of Protected Structures|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150130023543/http://www.tipperarycoco.ie/sites/default/files/Publications/NTCC%20Register%20of%20Protected%20Structures_0.pdf|access-date=4 November 2021|archive-date=30 January 2015}}</ref>

In the 21st century, the area was the subject as some media attention as the integrity of the village's water supply was threatened by pollution from the [[tailings]] left behind at the mine.{{fact|date=May 2025}}