Windmill

The National Monuments Service's description

A mill was built in 1273 and the windmill is depicted on the Strafford maps of c. 1636 (Simington 1949). Situated on a hillock at the S end of Rindown peninsula. Circular tower (ext. diam. 6.9m; int. diam. 4.5m N-S; H 6.2-6.45m) surviving to its original height of three floors with doorways which have plank-centered flat arches at E and W (Wth 1.6m; H 2.1m). The ground floor has simple lights at N and S and sets of putlogs, presumably to brace machinery. The first floor, supported on 8 joists set directly into the wall has four lights. The second floor was supported on two large beams and had no lights, but the top of the wall has 16 vertical slots (H 1.3m; Wth ) arranged in pairs on the inside and the outside of the wall, and connected by a putlog. This must have provided the houseing for the rotating cap.
The mill is built on a mound with stone revetting (RO046-004032-) (diam. of base 17.55m N-S; diam. of top 13.25m N-S; H 2.8m) surrounded by a fosse (Wth of top 4-5m; ext. D 0.2-0.4m), and an outer bank (Wth c. 4-5m; ext. H 0.2m) which has been removed NW-ENE. A stone-lined causeway Wth 3.3-3.65m) crosses the fosse at ENE. The mill structure was conserved during 2011 by the St. John's Parish Heritage Group with assistance from the Heritage Council and Roscommon County Council under the direction of Kevin Blackwood, conservation architect (Collins 2011; 2013, 30). (Claffey 1980; Bradley and Dunne 1985, 67; Claffey 2004b)

See the attached images taken from the NE

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 10 January 2012

References

Collins, R. 2013 The Rinn Duin project. Journal of the County Roscommon Historical and Archaeological Society 12, 27-32.

Collins, R. 2011 Rinn Duin tower mill, St. John's, Lecarrow, Co. Roscommon. Industrial Heritage Association of Ireland No. 38, 5.

Bradley, J. and Dunne, N. 1988a Urban archaeological survey - county Roscommon. Unpublished report commissioned by the Office of Public Works, Dublin.

Claffey, J.A. 2004b Rindoon windmill tower. The Rindoon Journal 1, 161-9.

Claffey, J.A. 1980 Rindoon windmill tower. In H. Murtagh (ed.) Irish Midland Studies: essays in commemoration of N. W. English, 84-8. Old Athlone Society.

Simington, R.C. (ed.) 1949 Books of survey and distribution. County of Roscommon. Dublin. Stationery Office.