Water Powered Grain Mill and Drying Kiln Tour

Deerpark Mills in Mullinavat County Kilkenny is a water powered grain mill, including a drying kiln built in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century. It served farmers from Mullinavat and the surrounding parishes drying and grinding oats, being the predominant crop in those times, barley, wheat and maize. Originally owned by the Hayes Family, it transferred to the Dunphy Family in 1877 and is in our custodianship now for 5 generations.

It ceased to work commercially in 1961 and it has been preserved since in its original condition. The waterwheel decayed over time and thanks to the help of the Built Heritage Investment Scheme and the craftmanship of Pat Sheehan, the wheel was replaced in 2023. This has allowed the internal machinery to rotate again as it did for 150 years.

The event will consist of a guided tour of the mill, kiln and its surrounds, and partnering with the local Buckstown Vintage Club there will also be a display of vintage stationary engines, cars, tractors, motor bikes, horse drawn farm machinery, working model steam engines, thrashers etc.

There will also be ledgers from the mill, day books and records from local shops and businesses, dating to 1869. We will have poems written by local scribes about happenings in days gone by. We also hope to have musical entertainment.

Donations at the discretion of patrons to help with the upkeep of the facility, and a portion will also be donated to a registered charity