GALLERY: Historical Leitrim mill remembered in new series of Memory Meitheals

George Acheson born 1789 in Drumcree from Badger Family Chronicles

For more than two centuries, Acheson’s Mill in Drumcree was a vital part of the agricultural and social fabric of Annaduff/Drumsna parish. Farmers from Dromod, Eslin, Mohill, Drumsna and far beyond travelled with bags of oats and barley to be crushed into meal. Many older residents still recall hearing their parents speak of “bringing the oats up to Acheson’s,” as Drumcree Mill was known locally. Though the mill building has long since vanished, the adjoining mill house survives and is beautifully restored and lived in by the Reynolds Family— a quiet stone witness to a remarkable chapter of

For more than two centuries, Acheson’s Mill in Drumcree was a vital part of the agricultural and social fabric of Annaduff/Drumsna parish. Farmers from Dromod, Eslin, Mohill, Drumsna and far beyond travelled with bags of oats and barley to be crushed into meal. Many older residents still recall hearing their parents speak of “bringing the oats up to Acheson’s,” as Drumcree Mill was known locally. Though the mill building has long since vanished, the adjoining mill house survives and is beautifully restored and lived in by the Reynolds Family— a quiet stone witness to a remarkable chapter of Leitrim’s working heritage’s working heritage.

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According to a 1944 advertisement placed by A.E. Acheson in the Roscommon Herald, the mills at Drumcree were established in 1738, making them among the oldest continuously operated rural mills in the region. The notice also announced that the mill was “crushing for the country every Saturday,” perhaps an indication of a slow-down in operations coming near the end of its years.

Before that, an Irish Independent report from October 1929 describes a fire at the mill. Civic Guards and neighbours helped extinguish it, but Albert Acheson lost “a couple of motor cars, bicycles, and other property.” Despite the damage, he continued for a time until the inevitable decline of small rural mills overtook Drumcree Mill and his health also gave way. From records, we see that Albert Acheson died in Our Lady’s Hospital, Manorhamilton on the 19th May 1966 at the age of 85.

Memory Meitheals – new Podcast Series

The story of Acheson’s Mill in Drumcree is one of the most evocative episodes in the new Memory Meitheals podcast series — a project that brings Leitrim’s heritage alive through the voices of the people who lived it. Produced by traditional singer and researcher Fionnuala Maxwell, the series is part of the Connecting Through Heritage programme supported by The Heritage Council and Leitrim County Council.

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In this featured episode, Fionnuala speaks with Mel and Florrie Rowley (Moynihan) of Drumcree and Gerry Reilly of the Glebe — three people whose memories hold some of the last living echoes of a mill that shaped the agricultural and social life of the Annaduff /Drumsna parish for generations. Their recollections and assistance from Thomas Reynolds who now lives in the Mill House, combined with research from historic newspapers, census records, family trees, estate material and local archives in Leitrim Library Local Studies, form the backbone of this retelling of Acheson’s Mill: a place once central to life in the parish, now gone from the landscape but far from forgotten.

The Acheson Family — A Long Line at Drumcree

Griffith’s Valuation in the 1850s shows Josias Rowley leasing a mill and house valued at £13 to Alexander Acheson, confirming that the Achesons were definitely operating the mill by the mid-nineteenth century and there is further evidence to show that the Achesons were in Drumcree since the mid 1700s with William Acheson said to have been living there in 1748 with his son, Robert.

The Acheson family tree identifies George Acheson, born in Drumcree on 1 August 1840, as the man who consolidated and developed the mill into the substantial enterprise remembered today. George was a farmer, mill owner and corn merchant, and in his youth spent several years in New Zealand, working as one of the early pioneers before returning home “with considerable wealth,” as described in his 1928 death notice in the Roscommon Herald. That same notice stated that Drumcree had been in the possession of the Acheson family for over 300 years, and remembered George as “one of the best liked and most outstanding figures in Leitrim.”

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George married his cousin Lizzy Jane, born in Croghan in 1850. The Achesons were members of the Plymouth Brethren, a small religious community with very few adherents in Leitrim or Roscommon. Because the Brethren strongly encouraged marriage within the fellowship, the Acheson family tree contains multiple cousin marriages, reflecting the restricted social pool available to them at the time.

The 1911 Census records George (70), Lizzy Jane (61) and their son Albert (25) living at Drumcree House, with Kate McGuigan, a 15-year-old servant. Significantly, the census notes that George and Lizzy Jane had nine living children, many of whom emigrated — which explains how Albert eventually found himself the last miller of an old Drumcree dynasty at a time when rural mills were in steep decline.

Albert Acheson Remembered

And it is Albert Acheson, whose character is very much brought to life by Florrie Moynihan (nee Rowley) who grew up in Drumcree, right beside the mill. Albert is remembered by Florrie with affection and fascination. She describes him as intelligent and eccentric, with a deep interest in botany. He could name every plant and flower around the mill house, and the interior of his rooms contained botanical charts, paintings, army memorabilia — he had served in the British Army — and various curiosities. Albert had lost fingers in a mill accident but continued to work for many years. She also recalls his sister, Miss Lily, coming to visit.

Albert was particularly gentle with children, leaving sweets out at Christmas and gifting Florrie a treasured book from his small library. Yet he could be unpredictable and difficult at times. Florrie’s brother, Mel, tells how some farmers recalled him opening the sluice gate at inconvenient times, flooding meadows when hay stood drying out in cocks and many remember his insistence on being called “Master Albert”. Such stories have since become part of local lore.

Although, Mel says things were in decline for the mill in his youth, Florrie recalls donkey carts and horse carts rattling down the “mill-road” with bags of grain; the warm, sweet smell of oats drying in the loft; and the rhythmic churn of the mill wheel driven by the mill-race. Workers in the mill included Owen Gill and brothers James and Tom Doran. Eddie Murray, the miller for many years, lived in the miller’s cottage — known locally as the “red house” — and his sister cooked and kept house for the Achesons.

Neighbours Mel Rowley and Gerry Reilly remembered that the Achesons were substantial landholders who farmed like everyone else — only they had paid help. Because milling was largely seasonal, workers often moved between farm and mill work depending on the time of year. They also recalled that a small sawmill operated at Drumcree in later years.

Mel and Gerry describe the exact location of the mill: it once stood directly where the modern Mohill–Carrick-on-Shannon road now runs – there was a sharp turn in the road at one stage, so the new part of the road made it safer. The mill-race came from nearby Mucklaghan Lake and Mel recalls being warned by his mother as a child never to go near the sluice — though, he admits, a working mill was no place for children in any case.

Listen to More Local Voices

This feature highlights just one episode of Memory Meitheals, a series that continues to explore Leitrim’s heritage through warm, insightful and often very funny conversations. Other new episodes include a lively interview with brothers Vincie and J.J. Mulligan, who regale listeners with tales of growing up between Drumhany, Bunnybeg and Mohill, and the sharp contrast they experienced in later years while living in England. In another episode, neighbours Tish Dunleavy and Eilish O’Callaghan, both raised on Main Street, Mohill, share vivid memories of the town — its buildings, its characters, its local businesses and the kind of everyday mischief that was inevitable in a close-knit community.

This is the second instalment of the Memory Meitheals series, following last year’s much-loved episodes with a range of local voices. Each episode captures stories, insights and memories that might otherwise slip away, weaving them into a shared heritage for future generations. The new episodes will be released weekly, beginning this Friday, November 28th, and can be accessed on Leitrim Heritage’s Buzzsprout page or through Leitrim County Council’s website, where previous episodes are also available for anyone who would like to catch up. All with thanks to The Heritage Council and Leitrim County Council.