Survey Data
Reg No
20842004
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Historical, Social, Technical
Original Use
Mill (water)
Date
1790 - 1795
Coordinates
159341, 71404
Date Recorded
20/04/2009
Date Updated
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Description
Complex of former gunpowder mill buildings, commenced 1794, comprising multiple-bay single- and two-storey buildings. Now in ruin. Roofs missing with dressed limestone eaves courses to some buildings. Rubble limestone walls having roughly dressed quoins. Red brick building to site. Square-headed openings with mixed red brick and roughly dressed stone voussoirs. Segmental-headed door and carriageway openings to ground floors with dressed stone voussoirs. Canals to site.
Appraisal
This complex of buildings, formerly the Ballincollig Gunpowder Mills, is of great social and historical importance. The mills were the largest in Ireland and much advanced at the time of their construction in 1794 by Charles Henry Leslie. They continued to prosper and played a vital role in the supply of gunpowder during the Napoleonic Wars of the early nineteenth century. Although now in ruins, many of the buildings retain their original and varied forms. Most of the original buildings remain upstanding, which allows a sense of the scale of the industry to remain discernable. The extensive canals systems which were built to provide both hydro power and transportation is a particularly interesting feature of the site. Due to the importance of this complex, a military barracks was constructed close by to improve security, and together with these surviving barrack buildings and Oriel House, is a reminder of the military and industrial history of the area.