Mill

Slane is a village of just over 1,000 inhabitants on the River Boyne where it is crossed by the main road from Dublin to Derry. Slane Mill was built in 1766-67 for a Mr Jebb, and was reckoned the largest corn mill of its time in Ireland. The main building still stands, a five-storey structure of nine bays, 45 m X 8 m, where power was once provided by two very large waterwheels. The mill suffered from competition from roller mills on the coast from the 1870s, and for a time stood derelict. It was adapted to scutch flax from circa 1935, and textile activities subsequently expanded. Cotton and jute were woven on the site from 1935, and in 1955 a new building was constructed for weaving. Textile manufacturing ceased in 1983, and the buildings now houses several small enterprises.

The nearby birthplace of the poet Francis Ledwidge (1887-1917) is preserved as a museum, and is a good example of a farm worker’s cottage built under the Labourers’ Dwellings Act of 1886.