The Area
Macroom is often a bottleneck when travelling on the N22 between
Cork and Killarney or vice versa. It could really do with a bypass,
but there are currently no plans. In the meantime, there is a
backroad that in many cases will be faster than going through the
town, even though re-joining the main road can be tricky.
On this unofficial "bypass" lies Bealick Mill.
The following is taken from
www.IrelandAdventures.com:
Erected in the early 19th century, The Bealick Mill located
just a short distance from Macroom on the River Larney in County
Cork has recently been restored from dereliction and is now a fully
functional mill, heritage centre and tourism attraction.
The site of Bealick Mill is hugely important in the annals of Irish
history. For the mill derives its name from Bealach Leachta, an
ancient route used by local saints. Adjacent to the Mill site the
Leach Mahon standing stones commemorate the Battle of Bealach
Leachta, a legendary brutal batal was fought and won in 978AD by
the forces of Brian Boru.
In 1899 a water powered generator was installed at Bealick Mill
(then known as Looneys Mill), which provided the town of Macroom
with street lighting. Measuring 6 metres in diameter and 3 metres
wide the unique 20 tonne water wheel provides an effective visual
insight into showing the conversion of hydro to mechanical
energy.
Affected by the Great Famine of 1845-1851, Bealick Mill provided a
great source of relief to the town of Macroom, still popular and
distinctly flavoursome oatmeal. The building and machinery at
Bealick Mill was restored in 1993 and is now a full working mill
that generates electricity for the town.
The heritage centre displays an exhibition including photographs,
reports, documents and studies carried out on famine conditions in
local parishes during this time.
The heritage centre seems to be closed these days, but it's
still an interesting building and pleasant area to explore.
The Series
This is a cache in the "Pit-Stop Series". These caches will be
located at picnic areas on main travel routes around Ireland. The
series is planned to break long journeys and provide a list of
interesting, unusual or pleasant places to stop and spend 5-10mins.
The cache is a bonus!
If you want to set-up a "Pit-Stop" cache then email dino-irl
through his profile and he will add your cache to the Bookmark
List.
To qualify for addition to the series the cache should be:
- at an interesting, unusual or pleasant place to stop. This
would usually be a picnic stop but doesn't necessarily have to be
one.
- accessible in ordinary clothing (usually a Terrain Rating of 1
or 1.5)
- named using a standard template: "Pit-Stop Series":
"Road Name" "Location"
