Allihies is located on the tip of the Beara peninsula in west Cork, a good two hour trip from Cork City. The drive is primarily on a two lane road and the traffic can be heavy on good weather weekends. The weather on the peninsula is also an issue and it can be quite wet there when it is dry further east. The route goes through the town of Bantry and the tourist village of Glengariffe before it extends out on the peninsula. Just past the hamlet of Adrigole, the mountain known as Hungry Hill will be on the right. This is the actual Hungry Hill, not the mythical mine location of Daphne DuMaurier’s imagination.
The town of Castletownbere is a commercial fishing hub as well as the main center of population on the peninsula. It was once, along with the nearby Bere Island, a British naval base. Just west of the town, a little to the left off the main road is Dunboyne. The remains of the Puxley mansion, which a number of entities have tried to develop into a luxury hotel, is located here. It was from the sheltered Dunboyne that Copper John Puxley transloaded and shipped his copper concentrate to Swansea. The limited ruins of the old O’Sullivan Bere fortress are there by the shore. The fortress was captured and levelled by Elizabethan forces in 1602.
Further out on the peninsula there is a cable car to the small windswept Dursey Island. As the road sweeps around the headland, there is a wonderful view of the nice village of Allihies and the mine locations. There is a marked Copper Trail around the area that visits the mines as well as going down to Ballydonegan Bay where equipment and supplies were brought in and ore was shipped out to Dunboyne. The original Dooneen mine is just off the road on the rocky shore and the Mountain mine with its engine houses is back up north of the village. The Museum (and attached restaurant) are on the main road. Their fish soup is wonderful.
The drive down and visit to the area give a very real sense of its remoteness and the amazing achievements of Copper John, who developed it as a mini-industrial center, over 200 years ago.
It is worthwhile to venture further west to the village of Eyeries. This is where local historian Riobard O’Dwyer lived and gained his fame as an athlete in his youth and teacher and chronicler later in life. Then, the road back from the west side of the Peninsula over the Healy pass is a spectacular drive in good weather.
Puxley Castle
Allihies and Ballydonegan Bay
Mountain Mine Engine House
Dooneen Mine Area
Copper Trail Marker
