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- Rudkin's
Mill
The Mill is a collection
of disparate works; the earliest of which dates to c 1690 when it was
built by the Rudkin Family on the Southern Bank of the River Barrow.
Records indicate that John Barrow arrived in Bagenalstown in 1688 until
moving to Kilkenny in 1710 whereupon he sold the mill as a going concern
in 1710 for £2,000.
Originally the mill was not in its current
isolated position but was connected to the town. This however changed with
the construction of Lodge Mills by the Singleton family further downstream
– The mill race they dug for the new mill resulting in the isolation of
Rudkin’s Mill on a thin strip of land. The Mill’s chequered past also
includes a stint as flax mill – precipitated by the strong linen market
and the punitive Corn Laws. At the turn of the twentieth century the mill
was still functional although it fell into disuse and in the 1940’s the
roof was removed in order to avoid the paying of rates; the procedure
precipitating the decline in the structure to its current state.
(The Mill is now up for
redevelopment:
http://www.rudkinsmill.com/index.php?section=home)
From Bagenalstown Community
The mill was built to process grain which was transported by river.
The owners went to America and started a foodstuffs company which now
owns the massive Pepperidge Farm brand. Pepperidge Farm, Inc., based in
Norwalk, Connecticut, is a leading provider of premium quality fresh
bakery products, cookies and crackers, and frozen foods. Among the
company’s most popular products are Milano and Chocolate Chunk cookies,
Goldfish brand crackers, Texas Toast frozen garlic toast, Swirl bread,
and more than 50 other varieties of fresh baked breads.
Pepperidge Farm was founded in Connecticut in 1937 by Margaret
Rudkin, an entrepreneurial mother who began baking all natural bread for
her allergy afflicted son. The company is now a nationwide business with
8 manufacturing facilities, 4,000 employees and $1 billion in sales.
Pepperidge Farm, Inc. was acquired by Campbell Soup in 1961.
Margaret Rudkin founded the Pepperidge Farm bakery as a health-food
venture in 1937 because one of her children was allergic to white bread.
Her family lived on a farm in Connecticut that had a lot of pretty
sourgum trees that the locals called ``pepperidge trees,'' hence the
name. Rudkin's pediatrician asked to buy loaves of her whole-grain bread
for other children with white-flour allergies, and so the business was
started. If you look in cookbooks published in that era, they mostly say
that it is impossible to make bread from whole grains because the flour
was too coarse and the bread would not hold together. In its time, this
was a very risky venture.
In 1963, Margaret Rudkin published a cookbook with all of her family
recipes. It's called The Margaret Rudkin Pepperidge Farm Cookbook, (Atheneum
Press). It is a rare book, and has been out of print for 20 years. In
1965 Grosset and Dunlap republished it with much wider distribution, but
that book is also out of print.
Rudkins Mill restoration planned
There are plans afoot to turn this landmark building into a visitor's
centre. A footbridge will link it to the riverside Barrow Track. Several
local groups are investigating the options, including BEAM, Carlow
County Council and the Inland Waterways.
Source:
Website:
Bagenalstown Community
Bagenalstown Tobacco Factory
Tobacco factory motto:
- "Le tabac est divin. (Tobacco is divine)
- Il n'est rien qui l'?gale. (There is nothing to equal
it.)
-
We bring under the notice of our readers this thriving and
unpretentious factory of Messrs. Joseph O 'Neill & Sons. The
Bagnalstown tobacco factory was established in 1830 by Mr. John
Nowlan, and thirty years later the present proprietors came into
possession, and have well sustained the good name earned by the
Carlow-made weed. The classes of tobacco manufactured are roll
(eight) and coil (four), and several varieties of snuff are made.
Year after year this firm is making rapid strides in the manufacture
of both quality and yearly output.
At present sixteen persons and a number of hand machines and two
spinning machines are employed at the factory.
At the Dublin Exhibition of 1882 Messrs. O 'Neill & Sons were
awarded a first prize medal and certificate.
From an article in The Nationalist & Leinster Times 1:1:1887.
Source: The Nationalist Centenary
Supplement 1883-1983
Extract from the 1911
Census for Ireland (National Archives)
Residents of a
house No.1 in Market Square Bagenalstown Urban, Carlow.
|
Surname |
Forename |
Age |
Sex |
Relation to head |
Religion |
Birthplace
|
Occupation
|
|
Oneill |
Joseph |
44 |
Male |
Head of Family |
RC |
Co. Carlow |
Tobacco Manufacturer |
(PS; I presume his surname would have been O'Neill)
The Muinebeag Gas Company
THE Muinebeag Gas Co.
have closed down, and from the 8th inst. no supply has been available
for consumers. Mr. P. D. O'Mahony, the Manager, has received
instructions to have the retorts, etc., dismantled and sold.
The Nationalist &
Leinster Times, 22nd November 1930
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- The information contained in these
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- © 2001 Ireland Genealogy Projects,
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