Connacht Tribune
Loughrea couple put shoulder to the (mill) wheel
A fallen slate was the spur that led Maria Finnerty and her husband Seán Kennedy to restore an abandoned corn mill that was once at the heart of its community before finally closing its doors nearly 40 years ago.
Ten years after that slate fell from the roof, the beautiful building in Leitrim outside Loughrea is home to a museum where visitors can learn about how rural communities fed themselves and their animals in an era before industrialised food production.
The mill’s old waterwheel is in full working order, powered by a river that runs alongside it, and its internal mechanisms have also been restored. A series of visible wheels and cogs drive the machinery that once ground grain, especially oats. Finnertys’ Mill was renowned for its porridge, which had a smokey flavour because of the way they dried grain.
Finnertys’ Mill was vital to its locality for well over 100 years, but changing farming practices in the later decades of the 20th century led to a decline in business. So, when Maria’s father died as a young man in 1978, her mother closed it to concentrate on raising their four daughters and running the family farm.
Effectively, Mrs Finnerty sealed up the building and left everything as it was, explains Maria, who was eight when her dad died and who now runs the farm.
So, in 2006, when that slate fell and Maria and Seán decided to embark on a restoration project, they were in the rare position of having an historic building where the original machinery, some dating from Victorian times, was still in place.
“I didn’t want to look back and say we didn’t do anything. The slate falling was the trigger,” says Maria about their decision. Seán nods in agreement. “We didn’t want it to go to rack and ruin on our shift.”
The job was a baptism of fire for the couple, who have three daughters, Emily, Miriam and Lillian, now aged 16, 14 and 11.
“We didn’t realise what we had and what we were getting ourselves into,” adds Maria with a laugh.
But they stuck at it, helped greatly by their Dutch neighbours Marko and Marika Leen, two superb craftspeople. Marika is a thatcher and Marko a master carpenter, but both can turn their hands to anything, and they did as they helped restore the mill to its former glory.
Maria and Seán didn’t really know Marko and Marika before they came on board, but the four are now firm friends, united by a passion for this historic building.
The mill is national monument and protected structure, Maria explains as we stand outside and she points to a stone to the left of the main door. This was etched by hand in a traditional technique known as sparrow-pecking and may have come from an older, local castle. They aren’t sure of its origins, but it’s of significant historic value. The mill’s external walls have been repaired, mostly by Marika, who used a mix of lime and mortar in accordance with proper preservation methods.
Unlike cement, the lime-mortar mix allows the building to breathe and to move, says Marko, who explains that when the corn crushers are at full speed, the mill does move.
We walk along the side of the building to view the impressive waterwheel, 13 ½ feet high, and the river that powers it, via a weir.
The weir and its gates have been restored, allowing water to enter the channel where the millwheel stands. These gates can be opened or closed to control how much water enters the channel. The more that enters, the faster the wheel turns, which allowed for maximum power during full production, says Maria.
For more about the restored mill at Leitrim, Loughrea see this week’s Tribune here
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
