Milling in Clare: Some New Discoveries the focus of archaeological & historical society lecture

RECORDS of the boys from Artane industrial School who weaved new careers in a huge woolen mill in Sixmilebridge, and revealing new collections on milling down the centuries in Clare, will feature in the Shannon Archaeological & Historical Society (SAHS) monthly lecture.

Executive Clare librarian, Michael Talty, will give his talk on Milling in Clare: Some New Discoveries, to members of Shannon Archaeological & Historical Society in Treacys Oakwood Hotel at 8pm, on Wednesday, April 16.

Collections with a wide range of information on milling: including worker lists, account books, and local, national, and international correspondence, as well as collections with oral and folklore content, now being examined in detail by Clare Libraries and have already made an impact. 

“The Local Studies Library and Archives have recently amalgamated, and we are in the process of appraising and listing collections which have been held for some time, but which until now have had relatively little work done on them,” Mr Talty explained.

“In the course of this work, we have turned up some interesting collections and documents which throw a new light on milling in Clare.

“We have been giving some talks on what we found and last year we went up to Ennistymon to take photographs of O’Dwyers Woolen Mills and people came forward with legal documents relating to a case and detail plans showing the scale of the mill. Things like that show in a place not as developed as say Limerick or Cork you can still have quite a large industrial set-up in the 1870s,” he revealed.

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“We are also gathering data on mills in Clare, beginning with a study of place names in Clare - to find how many have connections to milling. I will discuss how these materials can help us better understand the level of milling, and the relationships which existed between the producers and customers, and between landlords and businessmen,” he added.

Alongside this archival work, Local Studies has begun gathering data on industrial activity in Clare, particularly focusing on mills and milling. An examination of placenames of townlands and localities shows a prominent level of milling activity in the medieval and early modern period, this project is only beginning as many locality names have not been recorded yet.

“There is also a wealth of material relevant to the history of milling in Clare held in the national Archives. Of particular interest are the records of the Artane Boys School, which had a close relationship to the Flynn Woolen mills in Sixmilebridge,” the executive librarian added.

“There are a lot of people who came down from Artane Industrial School and learned a trade in Flynns Woolen Mills. I would say it was pretty tough for them, but it seems that a lot stuck with it when they were adults. Many of them married into the area and a lot stayed on and got a trade out of it,” he revealed.

Collections recently donated into the Libraries and Archives include Caheraderry/Ardlahoon; Leconfield Estate papers; Caherlooskaun Tuck and Grist Mill Account Books as well as O’Dwyers Woollen Factory in Ennistymon. Several traditional music audio collections also have clips of musicians and the audience talking and Mr Talty will also talk about information gained on milling in Miltown Malbay from some of these recordings.

The lecture is free to members of SAHS and is also available on Zoom, while entry is €5 for non-members.