1853] 



IRISH INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITION. 



2«7 



And the quantitj' of bar-iron, worth £l becomes worth, when 

 formed into 



Horee-shocs £2 10 



Table-knives 36 



Needles 7l 



Penknive-blades 657 



Polished buckles or buttons 897 



Balance»spriiigs of watches 50,000 



If, then, We were to assume a moderate sum as the average value 

 wliich five millions and a half pounds' worth of iron receives by 

 the addition of labour, we should ha\'e no difficulty in satisfying 

 ourselves, that from this one minei-al a sufficient sum is prolucei 

 annually to defray the whole interest of our national debt. 



IV. COPPER. 



Two-thirds of the entire copper supplied to the worU is fi-om 

 the Cornish mines. The annual production of copper from Corn- 

 wall is 12,000 tons of metal, the value of which is £800,000 

 sterling. This is generally smelted at Swansea, in consequence of 

 the absence of coals near the mines, and it being found cheaper to 

 take the ore to the coal than the coal to the ore. 



The Burra-Burra mines were discovered about the year 1845, 

 in South Austi-alia. Their produce between that and the year 

 1850 amounted to 56,428 tons of ore, the greatest part of wliich 

 was smelted at Swansea. Latterl}-, however, arrangements have 

 been made to smelt it upon the spot, but there can be no doubt 

 the gold diggings have seriously injured the copper mines of 

 Australia. 



In Ireland, the principal copper mines form three groups — the 

 first in the county of Wicklow, in the picturesque valley of Ovoca; 

 the second in the county of Waterford, occupying the district of 

 Knockmahon; and the third is situated in the southern portion of 

 Cork and Kerr}'. The copper ore from the Irish mines is ex- 

 ported to Swansea or to Liverpool. 



V. LEAD, 



Lead is diffused through Ireland in far gjeater quantity than 

 copper. The principal mines are situated in the counties of Wick- 

 low, Down, Armagh, Kerry, Clare, Limerick, and Cork. Small 

 veins have been opened in almost e\'ery county in Iieland at differ- 

 ent times, but few of them have proved very profitable. At pre- 

 sent the principal mines arc worked b}' the Mining Company of 

 Ireland, and with great profit. The specimens of the different ores, 

 and the different stages thi-ough which the products of the oi'e 

 pass before they find their way into the market, ai-e all exhibited 

 by that company. The process of smelting the lead ore is carried 

 on by the compan}' at Ballycorns; and the produce of the Luga- 

 nure mines in the year 1851, amounted to 674 tons, 'which 

 produced 460 tons of lead, equal to nearly 69 per cent. The 

 company state tiie proiwrtions of silver in the lead ore per ton 

 amount, from the Luganure mine, to 8 oz.; Cairne, 12 oz.; Ball}-- 

 hickery, 15 oz.; Shallee, 25 oz.; Kilbricken, 120 oz.; Strayford, 

 10 oz. The average of silver extracted amounted, in the year 

 1851, to 20 oz. per ton of lead; and the total quantity to 3860 

 oz, producing £1029. 



VI. GOLD AND SILVER. 



At the close of the last century some peasants jn'cked up a few 

 lumps of bright metal in the Wicklow streams. It was soon dis- 

 covered that this was gold — " nuggets." The peasantry fi-om the 

 counties round at once flocked to the "diggings;" and all agri- 

 cultural operations gave place to the gold fever. In a short space 

 of time upwards of .£10,000 worth of gold was collected by the 

 peasantry, in pieces from the size of minute grains to lumps 



weighing twenty-one ounce?. The rumours of the mineral wealth 

 of the district, and the demoralisation that was the natural result 

 of this gold-hunting, soon induced the Government to take the 

 mining into their own hands. But, whether the result of accident, 

 mismanagement, or fraud, the project, as a monetary speculation, 

 was a total failure. In the course of the two years the Govern- 

 ment inanaged the undertaking, no more than 945 ounces of gold 

 wore collected, the value of which was only £3675, and much 

 under the expenses of the establishment. The Government con- 

 sequently abandoned the mines, which were afterwards leased to 

 a London compau}', in whose hands they pi'oved equally unpro- 

 ducti\'e. They are now abandoned. It is probable that the 

 quantity of gold found at firet in the Wicklow rivers was the ac- 

 cumulation of ages, during which mountains may have been worn 

 away and carried by the streams to the sea; whilst the gold, from 

 its weight, remained behind, constantly accumulating. No veins 

 of gold have ever been discovered, or any traces of it, except in 

 the alluvial deposits of the ri\'er. 



Silver has sometimes been found in small quantities, in a native 

 or pure state. The quantities found have never been of sufficient 

 value to. make the working for it a profitable speculation. The 

 silver pi'nduced in Ireland is generally found in connection with 

 lead. The ore of some veins is so rich in silver as to be called 

 silver-lead. Formerly the process of extracting it was wholly un- 

 known in Ii-eland, and the lead, richest in silver, used to be sold in 

 the English market, in consequence of its brittleness, at inferior 

 price. The silver is now sepai'ated from the lead at the Irish 

 mines, and a fine mass of silver exhibited by the Mining Company, 

 in a single block, worth £200, attests its practical application. 

 By this process siher, amounting to only three ounces in the ton 

 of lead, and woi'th no more than 1 5s., may be separated with 

 profit. 



OTHER MINERAL PRODUCTS OF IRELAND. 



The other mineral products of Ireland consist of nickel and 

 manganese, in small quantities, alums iii Clare and Kerry, pipe- 

 clays and china clays, minerals ofbarytes and of magnesia, ochre, 

 slates, and marbles, and some others. 



It will be necessary to consider these, and, indeed, all the raw 

 materials of which we ha\'e made mention, when we come to treat 

 of the various manufactures, both native, British, and foreign, that 

 adorn the Exhibition. 



In the order we have preserved, we were anxious, as far as 

 possible, to consider the metal as it leaves the miner's hands, with- 

 out any consideration to the subsequent processes it may have to 

 undergo; and, with respect to Irehmd, we were anxious to put 

 before the reader a succinct view of her natural resources almost 

 without commentary. 



It is impossible to view all these elements of national aggrand- 

 isement and wealth, without feeling that if Ireland had ever had 

 the good fortune of possessing as many Dargans as she has had 

 Smith O'Briens, O'Connells, and Meaghers, smiling plenty would 

 lono; since have dispossessed her poverty; and that island, so long 

 a difficulty to all governments, and a help to none, would have 

 been our support and our pride. 



THE IRISH MARBLE COURT. 



At the northern side of the Great Hall is a small compaiiment 

 of great interest. It contains not only a fine collection of speci- 

 mens, but several larger manufactured articles, such as chimney- 

 pieces, &c. The ]:)i-inci]:)al collection of specimens consists of a 

 sei'ies of two hundred and forty-five, representing the natural 

 rocks, minerals, soils, ifec, of Dublin, collected by Henry O'Hara 

 Esq., C.E. A fine collection of Irish marbles, in a glass case, ex- 

 hibited by the iluseum of Irish Industry; some specimens of 



