County: Cork Site name: Island Mills, Mill Road, Fermoy
Sites and Monuments Record No.: CO035-025 Licence number: 17E0643
Author: Patricia Long
Site type: Test trenching - mill
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 581510m, N 598699m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.139839, -8.270119
Test excavations were carried out by Rubicon Heritage Services Ltd for PORTAL Architects on behalf of UHPC International Ltd at Island Mills, Mill Road, Co. Cork.
The proposed development site is located on the south bank of the River Blackwater in the town of Fermoy. The c. 1.4ha site is occupied by two large structures, a mill building (CO035-025), and a modern two-storey office building, as well as a former on-site car park. A modern link corridor links the mill and the modern building. The mill building itself has been modified over time and converted to office space c. 1990, with a modern porch and annex added to the southern side. The site is currently vacant, having been most recently occupied by BUPA Healthcare.
The mill complex which lies in the core of the proposed development area is a Recorded Monument (CO035-025), a Protected Structure (RPS 200) and is recorded on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (Reg. No. 2081055). It is known from cartographic sources that the mill complex was originally much more extensive than the upstanding remains, and there is high potential for associated structural remains to survive sub-surface.
All 6 of the trenches at Fermoy Mill contained identifiable remains of the protected mill, with many of the identified elements matching up with the 19th-century Ordnance Survey map. Identified features include the destroyed and backfilled mill race, interior flagstone floor, external wall and mortared foundations.
It is likely that the mill remains intact across the entire site, under the existing ground level.
Rubicon Heritage Services Ltd., Unit 2 Europa Enterprise Park, Midleton, Co. Cork P25 TV25
