Survey Data
Reg No
41401318
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Technical
Original Use
Mill (water)
In Use As
House
Date
1840 - 1860
Coordinates
266017, 329032
Date Recorded
22/04/2012
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached six-bay three-storey water-powered corn mill and kiln, built c.1850. Now converted for residential use. Three bays to south-west end incorporating mill, kiln in two middle bays, store to end bay at north-east. Pitched natural slate roof with raised verges, artificial slate to kiln section. Coursed rubble limestone walls with dressed stone quoins. Large water-wheel to west gable, with cast-iron axle, hub and rim, timber spokes and angled buckets. Square-headed window openings with replacement timber casement windows with concrete sills throughout. Brick block-and-start surrounds to window openings to north, south and east elevations. Triple-centred-arch door openings with red brick surrounds, each with square-headed doors and red brick infill over. Original nineteenth-century timber panelled door to former store on west elevation, Timber battened and plywood-covered doors to two openings to south elevation, three door openings to former mill, kiln and store on north elevation. Situated on slope to south of third-class road off secondary road.
Appraisal
Now gutted of plant and machinery, Tullygillen Mill has been converted to residential use and survives as a fine example of a large mid-nineteenth-century corn mill. A corn mill and mill pond are cited on the 1835 OS map, and by 1858 a new mill had been constructed to the north-east, described in the 1860 Griffith Valuation as 'corn mill, kiln, stores', all operated by Thomas McCormack. Tullygillen Corn Mill is cited on the 1907-08 map and became known locally as Finlay's Mill, maintaining operations until its closure in 1953. The mill was supplied with water from Beagh Lake and the Ordnance Survey maps show a mill pond and sluice gates to the south-east, the controlled fall of water powering the mill. Tullygillen Mill was a focal point for the local community, playing a key role in the economic prosperity of the area after the Great Famine. The building also serves as a reminder of past industrial processes and represents an integral element of the industrial heritage of predominantly agricultural rural Monaghan, which had a high proportion of grain mills. Technically, the water-wheel is of note, all the more so as it is the largest surviving wheel in County Monaghan. The visually pleasing contrast of red brick and rubble stone coupled with the overall mass and height of the complex, make this large mill building a significant and important element in the landscape.