Ex-miners recall ‘best days of their lives’ despite facing many risks and rats

Generations of families who faced the long pit walk into the Arigna mines, making their way deep underground, experienced many hardships, including physical risks, rats, and explosives, but still regard those times as “the best days of their lives.” It has been 35 years since the men and machines stopped working in the mines, leaving the area in a treacherous situation back in 1990 as many felt that this was the dealt knell for the local economy.

However, out of those devastating times a phoenix has arisen from the coal ashes in the form of the Arigna Mining Experience, and it is here that the stories of those miners are told.

The Roscommon Herald sat down with one of these men, Maurice Cullen, who first started in the mines at just 18 years of age. He had originally spent time in England, travelling there when he was 15 and trained as a carpenter. However, on returning home he hadn’t much choice but to get work in the mines. His father worked there as well as five of his brothers, one of whom spent 38 years mining.

Maurice recalled that workers had to walk into what were called the drift mines and this could take up to half an hour, with one of the walkways given the name the Pit Road.

On starting as a miner, he said that it “was rude awakening” and it certainly “sorted the men from the boys.” He added, “it was a bit frightening.” Even though here was no official training the older workers would look after the younger ones, and they were never sent anywhere dangerous.

Indeed, many people started in the mines at the age of 15 or 16, some starting during school holidays and opting to stay because of the good money that could be made. It became such an issue that teachers from the local secondary school in Drumshanbo would travel out to the mines to try and entice young men back into the education system, but mostly the mining money earned won out.

Despite the lack of training and the age of some of the miners there were very few serious accidents. Miners would often have crushed fingers or toes and on one occasion Maurice’s brother Robert broke his shoulder.

But these men became a band of brothers. There was huge camaraderie among them. Despite having to lie on their side in confined spaces as they dug deep into the rock face there were many happy times and during their break every topic was up for discussion with football being one of the main ones. One of his former colleagues has described his days underground “as the best days of his life” which shows how strong this bond was with the men.

This was by no means easy work. The temperature at the mines was kept at a constant 10 degrees and often the men were completely wet due to the nature of the job. There were no facemasks, and they worked by a Carbide lamp, which was about as bright as a candle. Maurice explained that eventually your eyes would become used to this, but the main issue was the silica in the stone, which was hugely detrimental to their health and would result in many men left wheezing and with long term health problems.

One of the first lessons Maurice learned in the mines was that once he saw a rat he knew the area was safe and oxygen was flowing.

He said: “There could be 10 or more (rats) there looking at you eating your lunch. You’d throw a bit of food at it and one would attack it and then the others would attack him. They even stayed there when the shots (explosives) were fired. You’d feel them running up the back of your neck, but I never heard of anyone getting bite or getting a disease. You just didn’t pass any heed and we were told to leave them alone.” He also said that many of the more experienced men would simply know by the sounds in the mine whether an area was safe. They would also tap the roof with a shovel to check for stability and sometimes this could result in a small rockfall but timber and supports were used to prevent any serious issues.

In many cases fathers worked side by side with sons or bothers worked with brothers. There were very few families in the area who didn’t have a connection to the mines.

If you worked hard you could make good money and he often was on the night shift. He said many had no choice but to work there as “it was the pit or England” and a quite a few of the men had large families to support.

“Mothers would be very worried but it was a way of life. There was no emphasis on education then – money was wanted in the house.” Explosives were brought to the mines on a weekly basis with a Garda escort. However as The Troubles in Northern Ireland heightened this became an intense operation with the army also providing an escort. He recalled leaving work one night when he was stopped by a guard who checked his flask for contraband and on another occasion the wire on his trousers underwent severe scrutiny as there were huge concerns that any part of the explosives would be taken off site.

Laughing, Maurice remembered attending mass during the summer where “you would see all the white faces of the miners among the tanned faces of the farmers.” For the miners they were unaware for most of the day of the type of weather outside. They could come out to the sun beaming down or discover a blanket of snow on the ground. The older workers remember having to trudge through miles of snow as they walked home with one man having to following the telegraph poles to find his way such was the whiteout on the night.

Maurice believes he and his family were among the lucky ones as they had hot water at home and a tin bath would be ready for them with the ubiquitous bar of carbolic soap ready to scrub the coal dust off.

However, there were a quite a number of workers who were not married or didn’t have families and many returned day in and day out to a cold house where no fire was lit and where there was no one to greet them on their return.

The females of the Arigna families, especially pre 1950s, did not have an easy life either. They prepared lunches of soda bread, and sent the men off to work with bottles of sweet milky tea, which the miners preferred to drink cold. Men returned home with just the whites of their eyes shining out and clothes stained with coal dust. These were taken and had to be dried before the fire. Considering the times that were in it men only washed their hands and faces during the week and reserved a whole body wash for the weekend. For many women the weekends were busy trying to wash the pit clothes and preparing for another hard week ahead.

But there was also great joy and unity to be had in this small community. The men worked hard and played hard. They enjoyed a drink in the local Miner’s Bar and Maurice has such wonderful memories of those nights sitting and talking with his fellow workers and listening to music.

Up until the mid 1950s Arigna had its own pipe band led by the Cullen’s and the valley’s first dance band was known as the Arigna Shamrocks.

But times were about to change and the signs were there in the late 70s and early 80s. Maurice felt the clock ticking down and decided to leave. Luckily he had his carpentry to fall back on and set up a workshop in Drumshanbo and would later employ some of the younger ex-miners.

He recalled that any mention of strike action would come with a warning that the mines would close. Eventually that closure day came. There had been hopes of a power station but this was lost to Moneypoint (which ceased burning coal last month). Essentially the “death knell” was sounded for Arigna. The existing power station would go on to run for a further three years until 1993 due to the large stock pile of coal there.

After the mines closed the older workers were able to fall back on farming, while others took up roles with in construction and meat factories. “The area was hit hard but it is resilient. The older people just got on with life,” said Maurice.

He would go on to work as a foreman for the establishment of the Arigna Mining Experience as his past mining experience proved vital in the establishment of this huge popular tourist attraction.

He also worked as a guide when the museum opened on April 23rd, 2003 and remained until 2016 when he decided to retire. However, he still works periodically recalling the rich history of the mines to people from all over the world.

As he looks back at old photos from the heydays of Arigna mines he can put a name to every face and has a memory about each of them - a story to tell.

Although many have since passed away that connection that was created between these hard working men is still very much in evidence and the pride shines through in the work that they did. This band of brothers are very much bonded through their shared experience and remain that way to this very day.