Allihies
Allihies (/ælˈæhiz/; Irish: Na hAilichí, meaning "the cliff fields")is a coastal parish (and townland) in the west of County Cork. Allihies Parish is located on the western tip of the Béara Peninsula and stretches between Cod's Head to the North West and Dursey Island to the South West. Allihies is the furthest village in Ireland from the capital, Dublin, some 394 km away by road.History of copper mining
From the Bronze Age up to the 1870s the area was a site of copper-mining. The most commercial and productive period being between 1812 and 1912 when 297,000 tons of ore were recorded as passing through Swansea from Allihies mines.An attempt was made to restart mining in the late 1950s by a Canadian mining company, but was not progressed.There are three ruined Cornish engine houses visible from Allihies. The most prominent is the Mountain Mine man engine house, located on the mountain above the village and installed by the noted Cornish engineers Michael Loam and Son in 1862. The area saw large-scale emigration when the mine closed following a fall in the worldwide price of copper. Many miners went to Butte, Montana and the town has many families who trace their ancestry back to Allihies.
