Haulage of Coal

Horse and Cart, Deerpark Colliery,Castlecomer.

Transportation of coal above ground was always a problem because of the rolling hills of the Castlecomer Plateau.The earliest overground haulage was a traditional horse and cart.Coal was brought to Leighlinbridge and on to Waterford. Coal was also transported to Dublin by canal, but this was very expensive. Pit ponies were also used for underground haulage. At that time, there were no ponies of the correct height available in Castlecomer, so they were imported from Durham, England.

Horse and Cart, Deerpark Colliery,Castlecomer.

Horse and Cart, Deerpark Colliery,Castlecomer.

Transportation of coal above ground was always a problem because of the rolling hills of the Castlecomer Plateau.The earliest overground haulage was a traditional horse and cart.Coal was brought to Leighlinbridge and on to Waterford. Coal was also transported to Dublin by canal, but this was very expensive. Pit ponies were also used for underground haulage. At that time, there were no ponies of the correct height available in Castlecomer, so they were imported from Durham, England.

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The earliest form of underground coal haulage was done by a single miner. The miner hauled a basket or sleigh along wooden tracks, and a rope or chain was attached to a girdle around the man's waist to help him pull the load. Later, wooden wheels and trams which ran on wooden and iron rails were introduced. These trams were pulled in front by miners called hurriers and pushed from behind by miners who were called thrusters.

Pit ponies were also used for underground haulage. At that time, there were no ponies of the correct height available in Castlecomer, so they were imported from Durham, England. By 1905 haulage of coal was mechanised with the introduction of a mechanised coal cutter and conveyor belt. From 1925 onwards the trams in Deerpark were made of iron.

Mining machinery, Deerpark, Castlecomer.

Equipment and machinery used to transport coal in Deerpark Mine, Castlecomer.

Mining machinery, Deerpark, Castlecomer.

Mining machinery, Deerpark, Castlecomer.

Equipment and machinery used to transport coal in Deerpark Mine, Castlecomer.

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Transportation of coal above ground was always a problem because of the rolling hills of the Castlecomer Plateau.The earliest overground haulage was a traditional horse and cart. One ton of coal was the average weight of a load and some journeys would have taken several days.

Plans were drawn up for rail and canal methods of transportation, and coal was ferried to Leighlinbridge and on to Waterford by canal. Coal was also transported to Dublin by canal, but this was very expensive. In the 1830s a civil and mining engineer, David Aher, produced plans for the first Dublin - Kilkenny railway. In 1918 the British War Office subsidised the building of a Castlecomer railway to the Deerpark Colliery.

The Deerpark depot was fed by an ariel ropeway from collieries at Rock, Vera and Skehana. The coal was carried across the hills in large buckets on strong steel ropes. At peak production, the trains carried 300 tons approximately 14 miles a day to Kilkenny. After the Second World War transportation by rail was discontinued as lorries were found to be more economical.