placenamesRathdown
Ráth an Dúin
Ballycorus preserves an industrial landscape within the Dublin portion of the historic barony.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Ráth an Dúin · Irish · main form · validated name
- Rathdown · English · main form
Place & story
Mines, furnaces and manufactured lead
Samuel Lewis’s 1837 account of Rathmichael described lead mines worked by the Mining Company of Ireland and furnaces at Ballycorus. They smelted ore from the nearby workings and from the company’s other mines. Rolling works and pipe manufacture accompanied the furnaces, while a separate tower was used to make shot. The account records several connected processes rather than a mine producing raw ore alone. [2]
The long flue up the hillside
Geological Survey Ireland distinguishes the short-lived local mining from smelting sustained for decades by ore brought from Wicklow. A stone flue approximately 1.6 kilometres long carried fumes uphill to the tall chimney after pollution caused problems for livestock. Lead condensed on its walls could be scraped off and recovered. The chimney, flue and opencast workings are surviving parts of this larger industrial system; the chimney should not be confused with the separate shot-making tower. [3]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Rathdown. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Rathmichael, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland1837 · Samuel Lewis
- Ballycorus,DLR002CountyGeologicalSiteReport · Geological Survey Ireland
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2026-09-19. How this page was prepared.