The Castlecomer area has a long history of anthracite coal mining, from the 1600's to 1969.

A fantastic web site dedicated to mining in Castlecomer has been constructed by local schoolchildren of Firoda National School, as part of the Schools Integration Project. The site was constructed with the co-operation of Seamus Walsh who has written a book on the area "In the Shadow of the Mines", and the site includes a moving interview with Seamus.