Bunmahon
{{short description|Coastal village in County Waterford, Ireland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Use Irish English|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name = Bonmahon
|native_name = {{lang|ga|Bun Machan}}
|native_name_lang = ga
|settlement_type = Village
|image_skyline = Main Street Bunmahon - geograph.org.uk - 708592.jpg
|image_caption = Main Street
|pushpin_map = Ireland
|pushpin_label_position = top
|pushpin_map_caption = Location in Ireland
|coordinates = {{coord|52.140|-7.372|dim:100000_region:IE|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = Ireland
|subdivision_type1 = Province
|subdivision_type3 = County
|subdivision_name1 = Munster
|subdivision_name3 = County Waterford
|established_title =
|established_date =
|unit_pref = Metric
|area_footnotes =
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|population_density_km2 = auto
|timezone1 = WET
|utc_offset1 = +0
|utc_offset1_DST = -1
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Bunmahon ({{Irish place name|Bun Machan|river-mouth of Mahon}}),{{cite web|url = https://www.logainm.ie/49798.aspx | publisher = Placenames Database of Ireland | website = logainm.ie | title = Bun Machan / Bunmahon | accessdate = 16 February 2021 }} also called Bonmahon, is a coastal village in County Waterford, Ireland, at the mouth of the River Mahon. During the 19th century, when copper mines operated in the area, Bonmahon was a mining village. As of the 21st century, the village and its beach lie on a tourist route.{{cite web | url = https://www.dungarvantourism.com/copper-coast-drive/ | website = dungarvantourism.com | title = Copper Coast Drive | accessdate = 17 February 2021 | archive-date = 23 January 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210123143748/https://www.dungarvantourism.com/copper-coast-drive/ | url-status = live }}
History
File:Men at Bonmahon Mines County Waterford early 1900s.jpg
Evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of Ogham stone and ringfort sites in the surrounding townlands of Ballynagigla and Knockmahon.{{cite book | title = Archaeological Inventory of County Waterford | editor = Moore, Michael | series = Archaeological Survey of Ireland | publisher = Government Stationery Office | date = 1999 | isbn = 9780707662152 }}
Bonmahon was a mining village for much of the 19th century, and copper and lead was mined here between 1827 and 1877. Much of the village was laid-out in this period,{{cite web|url = https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/22812004/copper-coast-templeyvrick-bunmahon-waterford | publisher = National Inventory of Architectural Heritage | website = buildingsofireland.ie | title = Copper Coast, Templeyvrick, Bunmahon, Waterford | accessdate = 17 February 2021 }}{{cite web | url = https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/22812016/ballynagigla-knockmahon-waterford | publisher = National Inventory of Architectural Heritage | website = buildingsofireland.ie | title = Mining Office, Ballynagigla, Knockmahon, Waterford | accessdate = 17 February 2021 | archive-date = 24 September 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210924222504/https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/22812016/ballynagigla-knockmahon-waterford | url-status = live }} and the local Church of Ireland church was built in the 1820s.{{cite web | url = https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/22812011/knockmahon-church-ballynasissala-knockmahon-waterford | publisher = National Inventory of Architectural Heritage | website = buildingsofireland.ie | title = Knockmahon Church, Ballynasissala, Knockmahon, Waterford | accessdate = 17 February 2021 | archive-date = 24 September 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210924222505/https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/22812011/knockmahon-church-ballynasissala-knockmahon-waterford | url-status = live }} A temperance hall was built in the village in 1842, and this was converted during the 1850s to become St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church.{{cite web|url = http://www.copper-coast.com/copper/web/Display/article/45/1/;jsessionid=08951E3CD4426DDC40C60C510C7AA1BB | website = copper-coast.com | title = Copper Coast - St. Mary's Church, Saleen, Bonmahon| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930065534/http://www.copper-coast.com/copper/web/Display/article/45/1/%3Bjsessionid%3D08951E3CD4426DDC40C60C510C7AA1BB |archivedate=30 September 2007 }}{{cite web | url = https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/22812019/saint-marys-catholic-church-kilduane-knockmahon-waterford | publisher = National Inventory of Architectural Heritage | website = buildingsofireland.ie | title = Saint Mary's Catholic Church, Kilduane, Knockmahon, Waterford | accessdate = 17 February 2021 | archive-date = 24 September 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210924222505/https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/22812019/saint-marys-catholic-church-kilduane-knockmahon-waterford | url-status = live }} The population of the village swelled to over 2,000 at that time. The village was home to a pawn shop, a creamery and a bacon factory, as well as 21 public houses.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
The history and mining activity of this period is covered in The Making and Breaking of a Mining Community, published in 2006.{{cite book | title = The Making and Breaking of a Mining Community : the Copper Coast, Co. Waterford 1825-1875 | publisher = Mining Heritage Trust of Ireland | date = 2006 | isbn = 0-9534538-3-9}} One of the mine workers was Thomas Wheatley, whose son John Wheatley later went on to be Minister for Health for the first Labour Party government in the United Kingdom in 1924.
File:Public meeting about Bonmahon Copper Mines Ireland 1900s (5866020082).jpg
Places of interest
Bunmahon lies within a UNESCO Global Geopark. The Copper Coast Geopark operates a visitor centre in the village's former Church of Ireland church. The Copper Coast is home to several beaches and wildlife, including foxes, rabbits, and diverse bird species.
The local beach is used by surfers use all year round, and a surfing school runs in the summer months. The village's Tidy Towns committee has created a boardwalk along the sand dunes, as well as working to improve access to the neighbouring cove of Tra na mBó.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}} The beach and surrounding coast is covered by the Bonmahon Unit of the Irish Coast Guard.{{cite web |url = http://homepage.eircom.net/~bonmahoncg/index.htm |title = Bunmahon Coast Guard Unit (Volunteer Cliff and Coastal Rescue Service of the Irish Coast Guard; IRCG) |access-date = 3 November 2009 |archive-date = 9 November 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091109114939/http://homepage.eircom.net/~bonmahoncg/index.htm |url-status = live }}
People
- John Wheatley (1869–1930), Scottish socialist politician born in Bunmahon{{fact|date=May 2024}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{County Waterford}}
{{Authority control}}