placenamesKells
Ceanannas
The district’s mill buildings preserve successive phases of grain processing, closure and adaptation along the river.
The name
A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.
Recorded forms
- Ceanannas · Irish · main form · validated name
- Kells · English · main form
Place & story
Mullins Mill at Garrynamann Lower
The Mullins family established the present flour-mill complex at Garrynamann Lower in 1782. Its buildings may incorporate earlier fabric from a mill recorded there in 1204–1206. The architectural inventory notes the surviving waterwheel and internal mechanisms. After milling ended in the 1960s, the building was restored in 1997 for use as a heritage centre. [2]
Kellsborough’s five-storey mill
A second mill at Kellsborough, known as Hutchinson’s Mill, dates to about 1800. Its thirteen-bay frontage rises through five storeys, with a waterwheel on the south-west side and a mill pond to the west. The inventory records closure in 1902, disuse in 1948 and renewed operation before 1973: its working life included interruption as well as continuity. [3]
Restoration and closure at Killinny
Killinny Corn Mill dates to about 1825 and is also recorded under the names Phelan, Hutchinson, Boland and Mosse. Its five-storey building retains a waterwheel and stepped gable parapets. The survey records restoration in 1983 followed by closure in 1989. A gate lodge, outbuilding and weighbridge show how the milling operation extended beyond the principal building. [4]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Kells. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Garrynamann Lower mill, NIAH 12315001 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Kellsborough mill, NIAH 12315003 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- Killinny Corn Mill, NIAH 12402709 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.