Loughrea couple put shoulder to the (mill) wheel

Ten years after that slate fell from the roof, the beautiful building in Leitrim outside Loughrea is home to a museum where visitors can learn about how rural communities fed themselves and their animals in an era before industrialised food production.

The mill’s old waterwheel is in full working order, powered by a river that runs alongside it, and its internal mechanisms have also been restored. A series of visible wheels and cogs drive the machinery that once ground grain, especially oats. Finnertys’ Mill was renowned for its porridge, which had a smokey flavour because of the way they dried grain.

Finnertys’ Mill was vital to its locality for well over 100 years, but changing farming practices in the later decades of the 20th century led to a decline in business. So, when Maria’s father died as a young man in 1978, her mother closed it to concentrate on raising their four daughters and running the family farm.

Effectively, Mrs Finnerty sealed up the building and left everything as it was, explains Maria, who was eight when her dad died and who now runs the farm.

So, in 2006, when that slate fell and Maria and Seán decided to embark on a restoration project, they were in the rare position of having an historic building where the original machinery, some dating from Victorian times, was still in place.

“I didn’t want to look back and say we didn’t do anything. The slate falling was the trigger,” says Maria about their decision. Seán nods in agreement. “We didn’t want it to go to rack and ruin on our shift.”

The job was a baptism of fire for the couple, who have three daughters, Emily, Miriam and Lillian, now aged 16, 14 and 11.

“We didn’t realise what we had and what we were getting ourselves into,” adds Maria with a laugh.

But they stuck at it, helped greatly by their Dutch neighbours Marko and Marika Leen, two superb craftspeople. Marika is a thatcher and Marko a master carpenter, but both can turn their hands to anything, and they did as they helped restore the mill to its former glory.

Maria and Seán didn’t really know Marko and Marika before they came on board, but the four are now firm friends, united by a passion for this historic building.

The mill is national monument and protected structure, Maria explains as we stand outside and she points to a stone to the left of the main door. This was etched by hand in a traditional technique known as sparrow-pecking and may have come from an older, local castle. They aren’t sure of its origins, but it’s of significant historic value.  The mill’s external walls have been repaired, mostly by Marika, who used a mix of lime and mortar in accordance with proper preservation methods.

Unlike cement, the lime-mortar mix allows the building to breathe and to move, says Marko, who explains that when the corn crushers are at full speed, the mill does move.

We walk along the side of the building to view the impressive waterwheel, 13 ½ feet high, and the river that powers it, via a weir.

The weir and its gates have been restored, allowing water to enter the channel where the millwheel stands. These gates can be opened or closed to control how much water enters the channel.  The more that enters, the faster the wheel turns, which allowed for maximum power during full production, says Maria.

For more about the restored mill at Leitrim, Loughrea see this week's Tribune here