Gypsum Mining in South Monaghan, 1800-1936

In the nineteenth century, south Monaghan underwent a number of crises both economic and political. From the point of view of the landlords, the Shirley family, the problem was to maintain enough tenants on the land who had the capacity to pay their rent. To that end, the Shirley family tried to develop other sources of income as well as agriculture. In particular, they initiated a search for coal but instead discovered a substantial deposit of gypsum under south Monaghan. From the early nineteenth century they began to develop this resource by leasing it to a number of entrepreneurs, some of who were more effective than others. As the Shirley’s fortunes declined in the late nineteenth century and the estate was sold under the land purchase acts the ownership of the gypsum deposit passed into the hands of the local community who managed it in the newly independent Ireland.