The Windmill Museum

Call in to see the Farm Museum at the Windmill, where you will find a range of items connected to the windmill. Items such as the thresher, used for separating the straw from the grain. A picture of a thrashing day in September 1959 out at Mantua, picture shows Michael Flanagan, (forking) C)hristy Rogers,(cutting) Paddy Feely,(feeding) Paddy Dowd,(bagging) and Pat Kiernan.(in front) The machine might belong to Patrick Beirne who had a thrasher working around that time , The thresher is a Garvie make imported from Aberdeen Scotland 1954, the price would have been £300.00 at the time. The thresher was invented 1784 by Andrew Meikle from Scotland. The threshing was a big event in each parish in its day and a lot of good stories were told about the time the thresher came to the parish.

We have miniature models of the Bishop's Palace, St Mary's Cathedral, and St Patrick's Church on display. These were constructed by students of Elphin secondary school then purchased by Mary Gormley, Mary then donated the 3 models to the windmill museum. 
The Bishop's Palace where the the Bishop resided, was built in 1759 by the then Bishop Synge, but a fire in 1911 destroyed the building. 
St Mary's Cathedral was built around 1200. In the early 1960's a storm did enormous damage to the building after this it was knocked by 1964 including its clock tower. The Famous Percy French attended Church in the Cathedral. There is also an adjoining cemetery. The building and site was partly restored in 1982.
St Patrick's Church celebrated its centenary in 1994.

Summer Season 2016 Opening Times

Elphin Windmill amended opening hours for the 2016 Summer Season;

Week days;
Monday to Friday 11am to 8pm 
Weekends;
Saturday to Sunday 11am to 4pm

Come along and enjoy the oldest, fully restored windmill in Ireland and the only one of its type in the West, dating back to the 1730's. A unique piece of Irish & Roscommon history and heritage.

Summer 2016 at the Windmill

The Summer Season is well & truly with us, glorious sunshine & blue skies!

The schools are breaking up for the summer holidays over the next few weeks & parents & children will be looking for something to do, so why not come to the Elphin Windmill for a visit & tour?

We are the oldest fully restored, fully working windmill in Ireland, dating back to the 1730's & the only one in the West of Ireland. We are also a 'community run, not for profit organisation' that relies on public support, donations & grants to keep the windmill open & providing everyone who visits, with an insight into the activities of the local farmers in the mid & late eighteenth century.

Elphin Windmill 2nd St Patrick's Day Tea Party

A Happy & Prosperous New Year to all of our friends in Ireland & further afield.

The Windmill re-opens to the public after the Christmas break on Wednesday 6th January, 2016, we look forward to welcoming you to the Mill for tours or just to have a cup of coffee in the peaceful surrounds of the windmill.

The December edition of the Heritage Council e-zine also features the Elphin Windmill, (see the attachment below).

http://heritagecouncil.newsweaver.ie/1k0b8fq7q6chhnzi7b4n3j?email=true&a=11&p=49657472

Christmas 2015 at the Elphin Windmill

A very Merry Christmas & a Happy New year to all of our website viewers & to everyone who has visited us at the Elphin Windmill this year.

We will be closed from Monday 21st December for two weeks, but look forward to seeing you all again in 2016, when we will re-open for tours & refreshments on Monday 4th January.

Mills & Millers of Ireland Committee Visit The Elphin Windmill

Today we welcomed the 'Mills & Millers of Ireland' group to the Elphin Windmill for their November committee meeting. 

After relaxing with a cup of tea/coffee, scones & minced pies, after their various journeys from all around Ireland, the group enjoyed a tour of the windmill before getting down to committee business in the Mill Cottage.

For more information about the group &/or enquiries about membership, please visit their website at;
www.millsofireland.org

Heritage Council Support

The Committee and Staff of the Elphin Windmill, would like to thank the Heritage Council for their Grant support and generosity in allowing us to make the thatch repairs to the windmill which were accommodated during the latter part of this past summer.

 

Elphin Windmill, Visitor Comments

We thought that you might like to read some of the visitor comments that we have received this summer, here at the Elphin Windmill.

Why don't you stop by & see for yourself. 

We are open seven days a week, all the year round.

"Interesting piece of history. Very well explained." - Marie, Lifford, Co. Donegal.

"Interesting & important historical reconstruction." - Laurence, Brisbane, Australia.

"Great." - Maria & Leslie, Dawson Creek, Canada.

"Great tour, very informative. Thankyou very much." - Paul & Lisa, Langtoft, England.

"Fascinating - well done!" - Marie, Athleague, Co. Roscommon.

"Brilliant, Interesting, Informative." - Brenda, Castlerea, Co. Roscommon.

"Very interesting, food for thought." - Laura & Kevin, Longford.

"Very nice." & "Cool & huge." - Dernicoli Family, Malta.

"Awesome project - Ace!!" - Neville & Rita, Wellington, New Zealand.
"Brilliant! Better than the Dutch Mills." - Louise, Eibergen, Holland.
"Excellent, Great Project, Well Done." - Emma, N. Ireland.
"Its a lovely windmill." - Jaap & Sonja, Holland.
"Lovely place here!" - Roland, Sulz, Austria. 
"Amazing." - The Mayers, New Jersey, USA.

 

Educational Visits

The Elphin Windmill is not just tourist attraction for visitors to the Elphin area, we also pride ourselves on being able to welcome school parties, heritage groups & clubs from near & far, to be able to understand further how important windmills were to the local economy in the eighteenth century. We attempt to show how 'revolutionary' the windmill was as it was built shortly before the beginnings of the 'agricultural' & 'industrial' revolutions in mid-eighteenth century Ireland & Britain.

To organise your trip, including a personal guided tour of the windmill itself & our farming museum, please contact the windmill by;
phone on, 083-406 2113, or by e-mail to 'elphinwindmill1740@gmail.com