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| 10 Apr 2008 04:01:31 pm |
 Nestled Deep in Glencar Valley... |
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Our home lies deep in a wooded Irish Valley known only to the Eauzone team. Here in a place undetectable from land or air, is bottled one of the greatest discoveries since penicillin. Eauzone’s properties make it not just the purest water known to man, but an elixir guaranteed to enhance mind and body. The water has being purified through the ages, far removed from the human pollution of the modern age
Unfortunately the above hyperbole is the actual promotional material for EauZone water from Glencar. Incidently I found the factory easily on the floor of Glencar Valley.
http://www.eauzonewater.com/ |
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Category : Industrial
| Posted By : Gareth |  Comments[75] |  Trackbacks [0] |
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| 07 Apr 2008 11:32:43 am |
| Employment providers |
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The main employers in Carrick-on-Shannon include MBNA, Masonite and Leitrim County Council.
MBNA is the largest employer in Carrick-on-Shannon. MBNA Europe Bank Ltd. opened its Carrick-on-Shannon regional office in July 2001 and now employs more than 900 people.Masonite employs 320 and Leitrim County Council employs 400.
Industrial winner - Masonite Ireland Ltd (awarded by SEI, Sustainable Energy Ireland)
'Masonite is a large MDF Door Skin Manufacturing plant located near Carrick-on-Shannon in Co. Leitrim. Established in 1997 Masonite employs 300 staff and is a significant electricity user.
A 44.5 Mega Watt wood-fuelled furnace utilises 5 large electrical air fans to sustain the combustion processes and to cool the exhaust gases. Outlet vane dampers previously controlled the air volume flows from these fans. Following extensive investigation the fans were converted to variable speed drive control to achieve maximum electrical efficiency and allow complete system flexibility.
Electrical efficiency has increased by over 85% leading to annual electrical savings in excess of 650,000 kilo watt hours and primary energy carbon dioxide savings of 380 tonnes per annum, while at the same time providing much greater system control. |
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Category : Industrial
| Posted By : Elaine | Comments[47] | Trackbacks [0] |
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| 28 Mar 2008 03:46:22 pm |
| Arigna Fuels Ltd. |
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Cause and Effect?
Employment/ unemployment/ an industrial community
There is a satisfying sense of continuity in the industrial heritage of the Arigna region. What began with iron and coal mining gave rise to ESB power station in the late 20th century. When the mines and the power station closed in the early 1990’s they were replaced in a sense by ‘Arigna Fuels Ltd.’ The company employs roughly 50 people, out of that figure at least 30 were former employees of Arigna Colleries.
Arigna Fuels are the primary ‘smokeless fuels’ producer in the country. In fact they employ a patented process to produce ‘regular sized ovoids’ or coal nuggets. The core ingredients are coal dust/slack (industrial waste), regular domestic flour (to bind) and fertilizer (to make water proof).
Non-Stop production- labourers are required to work 2 x 12 hour day shifts and 2 x 12 hour night shifts, i.e. a 48 hour working week, this is then followed by a 36 hour week. The image below is of shrink wrapped palettes ready for distribution. The company pride themselves in using ''a state of the art shrink hood machine', costing something in the region of 200,000 euro, to individually cover all palettes.
'Advantages of Arigna Fuels' (according to Arigna Fuels)
*Most Heat for your euro
*Low smoke and smokeless
*Higher Heat and for longer
*Cleaner to use
*Regular sized ovoids
*Lower ash'
'Fire in a Bag' Arigna Fuels are also the producers of Bord na Mona Firepak.
'Firepak is the convenient fire consisting of an ovoid designed to burn for 3 to 4 hours.
Just light the pack sit back and relax.' This product has made a particular impression on me. Its very existence seems to say so much about the sort of society we live in and highlights how strongly our way of life contrasts with everything that has come before. Fire, being so primitive and elemental, so crucial to our very existence has been reduced to a pre-packaged commodity that is available at every petrol station.
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Category : Industrial
| Posted By : Elaine | Comments[52] | Trackbacks [0] |
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| 14 Mar 2008 06:51:46 pm |
| Belleek: water wheel and water powered machinary |
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Founders of Belleek Pottery were as follows;
John Caldwell Bloomfield (owner of the estate)
David Mc Birnie (Dublin merchant)
Robert William Armstrong (Architect and self taught ceramic specialist)
'Gifted with some energy and wish to improve, immediately commenced to examine into the resources of the estate and in the course of geological and mineralogical researches, I found kaolin and feldspar in the gnesis formation. The day which this took place decided that, if spared, the water power I had already thoroughly appreciated in Belleek should turn the wheel of a porcelain factory' J.C.Bloomfield
(Cunningham, John.B, 'The Story of Belleek' , St. Davog's Press, Belleek, 1992) |
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Category : Industrial
| Posted By : Elaine | Comments[32] | Trackbacks [0] |
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| 14 Mar 2008 06:29:49 pm |
| Belleek Basketware |
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Basketware, unique to Belleek pottery and wedding present of choice, 1977. |
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Category : Industrial
| Posted By : Elaine | Comments[237] | Trackbacks [0] |
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| 14 Mar 2008 06:19:19 pm |
| Belleek Railway |
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The arrival of the railway in 1866 was vital to the survival of the pottery. |
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Category : Industrial
| Posted By : Elaine | Comments[46] | Trackbacks [0] |
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| 03 Mar 2008 04:35:14 pm |
| Killargue Quarry |
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The industrial production of concrete blocks.
Economics of Landscape.
Exploitation of natural resources, reshaping the landscape.
Building boom and increased demand.
Building is the new farming.
I think I heard that the price of blocks was on the rise?
They cut away into solid rock and mould rectangles for us to build our homes and our schools, offices, churches...
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Category : Industrial
| Posted By : Elaine | Comments[50] | Trackbacks [0] |
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| 25 Feb 2008 06:34:48 pm |
| Creevelea |
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View looking upwards from inside the brick furnace at Creevelea Iron Works.
Natural Resources: Vast Iron deposits were discovered in this area, Charcoal or Charred Peat was required for smelting and a source of water (mountain streams running from ‘Slíabh an Íarainn’) was also needed in the production process. This combination of elements were brought together in Creevalea to form the Iron works – where the ore was extracted from the earth and then smelted to form a high quality pig iron.
Physical Traces on the landscape? ‘Terra nullius’ A forgotten place?
The factory itself was an impressive sight resting at the foot of the hill, to many this place represented progress and the Industrial Revolution in all its glory.
Politics/ Settlement and Movement: To others the Iron works and other such industries stood as a beacon of political oppression and an unjust state of affairs whereby English gentry owned and exploited the majority of the Irish land and resources. In Creevalea Iron Works the Landowner in question was a Sir Charles Coote who at one time was said to have employed up to 3,000 individuals. It must be noted that this figure consisted of English or Dutch workers and that none of those employed were Irish. What essentially existed was a monopoly run by foreign investors- taking from the land’s resources and trading not so much as employment in return to the local community-. Records from this period suggest that Irish workers were simply unskilled and therefore considered unsuitable for this type of work, it is assumed that there was a strong political agenda behind this half-hearted reasoning.
…Cannons being manufactured there ‘imprudent to impart this knowledge to the natives’ …
It comes then as no surprise that the various Iron Works were a target during the revolts of 1641.
Image courtesy of Rory Grubb |
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Category : Industrial
| Posted By : Elaine | Comments[54] | Trackbacks [0] |
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| 07 Feb 2008 05:16:44 pm |
| Home- Baked Blocks |
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Christina had previously mentioned the 'Lough Allen Brick Works', "The raw material, clay and shale which were used in the brick making were mined a short distance from the jetty, and coal used in the baking of the brick was taken from nearby coal pits" CM. Here exists a reciprocity between this man-made industry and the presence of natural resources. This brought to mind a cottage industry of sorts which was practiced by my father and his nine brothers in their youth.
My father’s family are native to Leitrim as far back as anyone can tell, and the past two generations have worked in construction. As children we were often reminded about how our lifestyle and upbringing differed dramatically to that of the past. Like many of his generation, my father spoke (in hyperbole) of long days on the bog, milking the cow each morning and endless block making as an after school pursuit.
Only in later years did I begin to ponder the genuine relevance of homemade concrete blocks. It became clear that to participate in the production of anything from the very outset to completion is an extremely significant activity. In this case to bind locally quarried gravel and cement, to mould this mixture into blocks that will dry out in the sun, to transport them to a site and layer them up one by one. To witness as these individual blocks form into walls and ultimately buildings offers job satisfaction and a sense of pride to the worker.
As a result of division of labour- and many other related economic factors, it seems as though this sort of experience is becoming less and less common in 'quick-fix' contemporary society. |
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Category : Industrial
| Posted By : Elaine | Comments[51] | Trackbacks [0] |
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