Irvine Colliery Explosion – Irvine – 1871

IRVINE. Irvine, Ayrshire, November, 1871.

There was an explosion in which five were killed and three others died later from their injuries. The furnace had been tended by Thomas McQuade on a Sunday night but when the men went down on Monday morning there was a fearful explosion. Men went down the pit immediately and found the men had been dashed against the sides and were fearfully injured.

The men who died were:

• Thomas McQuade.
• Samuel Holmes.
• Charles McDonald.
• William Graham.
• William Gilmore
• Thomas Campbell and his two sons.

REFERENCES
Colliery Guardian, 3rd November, p.465.

Information supplied by Ian Winstanley and the Coal Mining History Resource Centre.