Arigna
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Arigna An Airgnigh
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Arigna looking towards Lough Allen
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 Arigna
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| Coordinates: 54°04′40″N 8°06′20″W / 54.0778°N 8.1056°WCoordinates: 54°04′40″N 8°06′20″W / 54.0778°N 8.1056°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Connacht |
| County | County Roscommon |
| Elevation | 86 m (282 ft) |
| Time zone | WET (UTC+0) |
| • Summer (DST) | IST (WEST) (UTC-1) |
| Irish Grid Reference | G931142 |
Arigna (Irish: An Airgnigh, formerly Arigneach) is a village in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is near Lough Allen (on the Shannon-Erne Waterway), on a designated "scenic route" between Keadue and Slieve Anierin. Arigna is situated in Kilronan Parish alongside the fellow picturesque villages of Keadue and Ballyfarnon. The village lies close to the shores of Lough Allen.
The village has a long association with the mining industry. Mining was carried out in Arigna for over 400 years until the mines were shut in 1990.
The Arigna Coal Mine is famous for its very shallow deposits. Seams of culm were worked by miners lying on their sides to shovel the coal out. Mining lasted until 1990, and the coal was used for iron works and later for a power plant. With the demolition of the ESB Generating Station chimney, the era of collieries in the area ended.
The mining history at Arigna started in the Middle Ages with the mining of iron. East of Lough Allen lies a mountain called Sliabh an Iarainn, which translates into the English language as Iron Mountain. At the beginning of the 17th century, the iron was smelted at Arigna in new built iron works, using charcoal, which was burnt from the wood of the forests around. But as no organised tree planting took place and the timber eventually ran out, the iron works had to be closed at the end of the 17th century. More than half a century later, in 1765, the mining of the coal deposits started, and again 30 years later the smelting was revived using the local coal instead of charcoal. This iron works closed finally in 1838, as they were not very successful.
Coal mining continued and provided work for the people in the area. The coal was used to heat homes and hospitals, and to power steam engines. In 1958 the Arigna Power Station was opened to produce electricity. It was the first major power generating station in Connaught. The station was built specifically to burn the semi bituminous coal with its high ash content. At its height, the power station burned 55,000 tonnes of coal per year and employed 60 people. Like in other coal mining areas of Europe, the main goal of this power station was to secure the jobs in the local mining industry. During the internationalization process of the mid-20th century, foreign coal from much bigger and easier to mine deposits became much cheaper than local coal. At the end of the 1980s, the power station was shut down, and without its main buyer the mine closed in 1990.
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