Mills were once the rural industrial hubs

Most villages and small towns around the Ox Mountain region had an operational mill at one time or another. My neighbouring village of Cloonacool in south Sligo had no less than three mills that operated at one time or another over the past 200 years.

The passage of time and the introduction of more efficient ways of milling means that such mills have not operated for more than a century at this stage, but they were once a hugely important part of rural life. Their unique mechanics and low running costs were a marvel and an powerful example of old-time creativity and ingenuity.

Hydropower 

Most mills used the flow of water to turn a large waterwheel. A shaft connected to the wheel axle was then used to transmit the power from the water through a system of gears and cogs to work machinery, such as a millstone to grind corn.

Watermills were usually built beside streams or rivers, which provided them with a water supply. Very often these supplies were improved by the provision of a mill race to help overcome the problems of different seasonal water levels. Mills were classified by wheel orientation; vertical or horizontal. One was powered by a vertical waterwheel through a gear mechanism as described above, and the other was built with a horizontal waterwheel without such a mechanism.

Millstones were a vital component of any mill and had to be made from special hardwearing stone which was not readily found locally. The Romans imported stone from the Rhine Valley in Germany to England, and during the Middle Ages, the best stone was sourced from France. Millstones were fitted in pairs, the upper ‘runner’ millstone moving against a lower fixed millstone. Stones were usually about four feet in diameter, weighed more than a ton and were geared to turn at about 125 rpm. That took some power.

First mills 

Jesmond Dene, a public park near Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England, occupies the narrow steep-sided valley of a small river Ouseburn. This park is cared for by a volunteer group who have under their care an old mill which dates back to the early 1700s. As part of their information on the mill, they go back to the origins of milling.

The first documented use of watermills was in the first century BC and the technology spread quite quickly across the world. Commercial mills were in use in Roman Britain, and by the time of the Doomsday Book in the late 11th century, there were more than 6,000 watermills in England. By the 16th century, waterpower was the most important source of motive power in Britain and Europe. The number of watermills probably peaked at more than 20,000 mills by the 19th century.

Local mills 

The Doyle Family of Millers: A History of Mills and Milling in the North-West of Ireland, by Tom Doyle, gives a detailed account of milling in the region; how they operated and who operated them. It was Doyle’s own forefathers that inspired his research, the family having a long association with milling in both Sligo and Mayo.

Mills were once the vanguard of industrial technology, spearheading change they spread rapidly throughout Ireland in the early 1800s. Landlords, landowners and entrepreneurs developed mill sites in line with this trend. The Doyle family took advantage of this opportunity to become a family of millers that consolidated their skills and experience to set up and run mills across south County Sligo and over the border into County Mayo. The Doyle family passed on their experience and skill of the trade through generations and some were regarded as master millers.

Doyle goes on to tell us a bit more about his family heritage, their involvement in milling and the towns and villages locally where they operated. He also makes a distinction between the larger industrial mills and the smaller, more local mills which were a simpler affair.

From a purely practical standpoint, the main function of mills was to grind grain on commission for local supply. It was an industry that serviced farmers’ needs and was a key component in the Irish food supply. This industry was central to the economy of the island.

In terms of milling in Sligo, according to McTernan, it played an important role in the local economy, especially in rural areas. He notes that mills have been found all over the county but with ‘particular concentration on the Drumcliffe, Duneill, Easkey, Moy, Owenboy, Owenmore, Unsin and Sligo rivers. More than 90 per cent of these concerns were corn mills, some of which had kilns attached. 

The principal mills that are associated with these water sources would include Ballincar, Ballisodare, Ballymote, Collooney, Coolaney, Dromore West, Riverstown and Sligo. In these regions it is more than likely that oats were grown for the domestic market where it would have been used for porridge and for feeding animals. The rest of the produce would have gone to the Sligo market where it was purchased for export.

Master millers 

Doyle informs us of the places where his family once plied their trade and goes on to describe the eventual demise of the local milling way of life. It seems, like most things that pass away, such mills were surpassed by evolving technology and a need for greater efficiency. I imagine at that time little thought was given to the passing of a once vibrant local tradition. It seems in between the canal era and the age of rail, local mills came and went.

The Doyles, who were descended from Andrew Doyle, a miller of Flaughana, Doocastle, were the principal milling family in the county for close on a century. Successive generations were described as ‘Master Millers’ and were associated with mills at Banada, Castlerock, Cloonacurragh, Curry and Montiagh, in addition to Coolaney. Further research can now include the following mills associated with Doyles: Battlefield, Carrountubber and Cloonacool.

Most of the mills the Doyle family ran are now long gone, and some of the buildings disappeared less than 100 years after they were built. However, the mills that survived either adapted or were in very rural regions that were slow to change. These buildings are still in situ, albeit tenuously, and in most cases their watercourses are still intact. Mills are an important part of our industrial heritage and because they were once so common on the landscape, they effectively are considered not rare enough to be conserved.

Bygone days

One of the mills in the small village of Cloonacool was run by a branch of the Doyle family. While the mill has not been in use for over 150 years, its footprint remains by the side of the Mad River, a mountain tributary of the Moy. 

The last remaining member of that Doyle family, John, who still lived beside the old mill, passed away in recent years. His passing drew the curtain on a once great local industry. 

The Doyle family, and their old mill, are still remembered in Cloonacool village. The Mill Community Café opens every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 2pm, and the old millstone from Doyle’s mill stands proudly in the centre of the village as a reminder of bygone days.