Another Irish link with the Civil War

We toured the Glengowla Mine west of Galway. During its heyday it produced galena or lead shipped to the States for bullets. Lots of Irish lads in Lincoln's army too.
Turns out a lot of the timber in the mine is American long leaf pine shipped over to Ireland around 1850 as ballast on the famine ships that hauled starving immigrants back to the US.
Mine was rediscovered in the 1970s and is run and being restored by a single family on their own land, so go support them if you're near Oughterard.

American pine, still in good shape.