The Deerpark Mines (Irish: Páirc Na bhFia Mianach Guail), about 3 km north of Castlecomer, County Kilkenny, were the largest opencast coalmines in Ireland, giving great employment to the area.

The coalminers lived in the nearby town of Castlecomer, in the villages of Moneenroe and Clogh and all the nearby towns including Skehana, Mayhora, Firoda, Aughamucky, Glenmullen, Upperhills and Ardra.

At peak production in the 1950s, trains carried 300 tons a day to a depot at Kilkenny railway station.

The maternal grandfather of former US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, operated as a trades union organiser in the area.

[9] Anthracite from Castlecomer was the source of the saying about qualities of County Kilkenny: "Fire without smoke.