Newmills Corn and Flax Mills

The mill is situated on the R250, Churchill road, beside Newmills Bridge on the south bank of the River Swilly, 5 kilometres west of Letterkenny in the small town of Milltown.

The public house and grocery were an important part of the whole enterprise and proved quite successful in the early years of the 20th century.

Indeed, a lively export trade developed and when Sir Thomas Lipton started his grocery business in Glasgow, he received his first consignment of butter, bacon, eggs from Newmills.

The importance of Newmills was recognised in a 1978 An Foras Forbatha inventory of industrial archaeological monuments which identified it as by far the best example of a mill complex in County Donegal.

Under the direction of the Office of Public Works, a group of Irish and international volunteers restored the mills and millrace in 1989.

From the harvest in late summer right up to April or May the following year the mill was engaged in grinding the locally grown grains.

The meal was lifted to the first floor or upper level where it was cleaned, winnowed and sieved on a series of shakers and fans located there.

Using an ingenious combination of hoists, belts, pulleys and elevators, the whole milling process was highly mechanised and could be managed without too much difficulty by one man.

The original family home, shop and pub still on the grounds are also owned by the National Monuments Section of the Office of Public Works and are presently undergoing renovation.