The Mill was established in 1832 by Charles Wye Williams to cut and polish stone and marble by way of waterpower driven machinery. It employed over 100 men pre famine and was one of the mainstays of Killaloe industry. After Charles died in 1866 his widow Frances installed new machinery and started a woollen mill in the premises and the business became known as Killaloe Marble and Woollen Works.
Henry Maunsell Lefroy then took over the lease and added a corn milling facility. In 1886 he transferred the mill to his son Harry who continued to trade there until the ESB acquired the premises by compulsory purchase in 1927.
The ESB now uses the building and its yard as their workshop and store for canal and river maintenance.
The tour will now take you back to Ballina to the final stop – St. Molua’s Oratory.
Walking across the historic bridge, there is a plaque on the wall which shows where you leave Killaloe in Co. Clare and enter Ballina in Co. Tipperary.
There is another plaque beside it which marks the spot where four young men known as the Scariff Martyrs were shot by British Forces in November 1920.
Following the walking tour will take you across the Washerwoman’s Bridge.
In the 1860’s, the railway line was extended to a wharf below The Lakeside Hotel to serve trade boats and steamers. However, this would remove a right of way to the river which was used by the local women to wash clothes and house ware. When their protests were ignored, they lay across the line and refused to move.
Their actions resulted in the Washerwoman’s Bridge being built to allow them access to the water.
Walking along this river path, you get quite a different view across the river of the Goods Store and The Mill.
Killaloe-Ballina