Elphin Windmill facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Elphin Windmill |
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| Origin | |
| Mill name | Elphin Windmill |
| Coordinates | 53°51′07″N 8°12′19″W / 53.85188°N 8.2053°W |
| Year built | c.1730 |
| Information | |
| Purpose | Corn and flax milling |
| Type | Tower mill |
| Storeys | Three storey tower |
| No. of sails | Four sails |
| Type of sails | Common sails |
| Winding | Tailpole |
Elphin Windmill is a really cool old building in Elphin, County Roscommon, Ireland. It's an 18th-century tower mill that has been completely fixed up. People think it might be the oldest working windmill in all of Ireland! It's a special part of Ireland's history.
Contents
What is Elphin Windmill?
Elphin Windmill is a round, three-story building. It was built around the year 1730. A local landowner named Edward Synge, who was also a bishop, had it built.
What Was the Windmill Used For?
This windmill was very important for the local people. It helped to grind corn into flour, which they used for food. It also helped to process flax, a plant used to make linen fabric.
How Did the Windmill Work?
The windmill has four large wooden sails. What's special about this mill is that its roof is thatched, like a traditional Irish cottage. This roof could turn around!
A long wooden pole, called a tail pole, connected the roof to a cart wheel on the ground. This wheel moved along a groove. Workers would use this system to turn the sails so they always faced the wind.
The Windmill's Past
After the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815, grinding grain became less profitable. Many windmills, including Elphin, stopped being used. By the 1830s, Elphin Windmill was already falling apart.
Stories from the Past
We know about the windmill's past from old stories. In the 1930s, schoolchildren in Ireland collected local folklore. One story from Elphin, written in 1938, talks about the windmill.
It says the windmill was about a quarter of a mile north of the town. It was a strong building, still good even though it was very old. The story also mentions that a man who died 15 years before said the windmill hadn't worked for 80 years!
Elphin Windmill Today
The windmill was in ruins for a long time. But from 1993 to 1996, it got a huge makeover! A group called FÁS and Elphin Area Community Enterprise Ltd. worked hard to restore it.
A Fully Working Mill
They rebuilt the inside using wood, making it look like it did hundreds of years ago. Now, Elphin Windmill is fully working again! It was officially opened to the public on June 22, 1996, by the famous actor Gabriel Byrne.
There's also a small building nearby called Windmill Cottage. This cottage is a visitor's centre where people can learn more about the windmill.
