One of the earliest copper mines in Western Europe is Ross Island, in Lough Leane, Killarney, Co. Kerry. Over thirty copper mines were located at Mount Gabriel in Co. Cork. Copper ores were mined and smelted before being cast into tools, weapons and ornaments.
The ores were mined using a technique known as fire setting. Fire setting involved setting a fire against the rock face and then throwing water on the heated surface. The copper ores were then prised from the rock face using mauls and hammer stones. The ores were crushed before being smelted. The smelting process involved removing the sulphurs by heating. A waste product was created during this process called slag. As a result of the smelting process the metallic copper could be formed into ingots or ‘copper cakes’ for transport to the metalworkers.
