Arigna Mining Experience — Attraction in County Roscommon

WOW! A must see visit. The Arigna Mines is closed as a working since the early 1990s. It has been turned into a visitor centre and is unique in what it offers. There is free parking on site with picnic area and seating outside. Beautiful views from the carpark as it is located on an elevated site. An indoor cafe serves a variety of food, simple but good and comfortable seating. There is a small but very interesting Museum on site outlining the history of the mine and the people and families that lived and worked there. The tour of the mine itself was delivered by one of the miners who worked there. This brought a sense of realism to the tour and it was very poignant. The Tour lasted about 40 mins. Visitors are brought along the areas where the miners worked. I would advise wearing warm clothing as the temp in the mine is a constant 10 Celcius / 50 F. It is suitable for all ages with no stairs to climb though the pathways are narrow and are slightly inclined, but nothing to difficult. You can access all the facilities without taking the Tour, so those in your group who are nervous or clostraphobic, can visit the museum, have lunch just take in the sights. I would recommend booking ahead which can be done on-line. If you are intending to take the tour, check before, as bad weather can affect accessibility. Arigna Mine is a short drive from most of the local towns in the area. Well...

The tour is not too long and it is suitable also for claustrophobic (there is only a minute where lights go off, but it happens in a fairly aerate and big space. No small tunnels to walk through and there is plenty of space for everyone.

The tour itself is around the hour and it is very interesting. It is fascinating to learn that we do not extract coal in Ireland since 1992 (I thought it was later than that) and it was horrifying to picture how the miners had to work to extract coal. According to the guide, this mine was actually one of the best ones from that point of view.

The guide, Michael, was great. Everyone was welcoming and nice, very attentive towards the kids. I would have only liked to know more of the comparison of the pay that the miners were bringing home at the different times and their fights to get better pay and better conditions. One can see the registers and the pay, but it is not clear what exactly they were bringing home and what kind of lifestyle they could afford, compared to the general population. But this is only because I always find this aspect fascinating.

The views from outside the mine are stunning, worth taking the time to enjoy a cup of tea in the cafe' and take some picture outside of it.

Two adults and a 9 years old,...

The coal mine is not like the kind that are in Wales where they have a steel cage type lift that drops you deep into the ground. The entrance to this mine is at the side of the mountain at ground level, a bit like you see in films with gold mines in America. That said it is the real thing. You can see the coal seams between the rock layers and the tour guide explains from start to finish how the coal was dug out. There is a small visitors centre with a video on a flat screen TV telling the story about the mine and surrounding area while you wait for your tour to begin and a cafe. The carpark is large but the road into the centre is steep but wide with no height restrictions, but the public road between the village and mine entrance is a bit narrow and rough. There's one road nearby that my satnav was going to send me with a road sign saying that the bridge was unsafe for vehicles 😵 Theres electric lights in the mine but not very bright which makes it hard to get...