Do you have information on the mining explosion at the Mapole Colliery, in Abram, Wigan in August 1908? Tish Gibbons would like to hear from you.

Tish is researching the Irish men killed in the mining explosion at the Maypole Colliery, in Abram, Wigan on the 18 August 1908.  Newspaper coverage at the time suggested that 18 were Irish, and 13 from County Mayo alone. She can now count 23 from Mayo; Roscommon (1); Leitrim (2); Sligo (3) and a further 7 Irish but their home county unknown, as yet. Tish suspects up to 40 of the 75 killed on that day were Irish born or first generation Irish. 

Tish welcomes contact from labour/social historians with information on the families of those killed, or indeed from the families/descendants themselves.

If you have any information, please contact Tish Gibbons via email.