The cliffs west of Bunmahon, Co. Waterford were mined for lead, silver and copper in the 18th century, but in the 19th century the Mining Company of Ireland focused on the area east of Bunmahon and the industry started to prosper.
The Mining Company of Ireland was established in Dublin in 1824 and picked mineral areas all over the country to be mined. Knockmahon was the most profitable of all of these, although it took ten years of development before they began to be profitable. By 1840 it was described as "the most important mining district in the empire".
By the mid 1840s the cost of mining these reserves was too expensive so they looked for an alternative location. That's when mining in Tankardstown began.
In 1850, the company moved east to Tankardstown. They had to vary how much they mined and sold because the price of copper changed so often. The business peaked in 1865 and fell into decline from that point on. Eventually, the last few tons of copper were sold in 1879 and the mine closed.
Many of the families that worked here had to emigrate to America and some found work in a copper mine in Montana. Some came home in 1906 to see if they could start mining again in County Waterford, but this didn't work out.