BALLYVERGIN
The Ballyvergin deposit was one of the more substantive, and continuously operated 19th Century mines in East Clare. The deposit was discovered in 1853 and worked variably, by a 38 member partnership, for copper, mundic, coppery mundic, and lead, all of which was exported and sold by auction, or directly to firms on Merseyside and the R. Dee. Zinc (blende) is also noted. The mine had ceased production by November, 1861, although it continued to be listed in the List of Mines up to 1868, with D.T MacDonald listed as the proprietor. The site and surrounding area has been the subject of exploration interest periodically from the 1960s onward. A heavily overgrown chimney stack, set in dense and almost impenetrable gorse, is all that is now visible of this enterprise (opposite).