Wikipedia

Blennerville Windmill

Blennerville Windmill

The Blennerville Windmill is a 21.30 m high, stone, reefing stage, windmill in Blennerville, Co. Kerry, Ireland. The mill has five floors, ground floor, intermediate floor, grinding floor, stone floor and cap floor.

The mill was built in 1800 by order of Sir Rowland Blennerhassett and has two grinding couples with on the spindle a gear that is driven by the wheel with wooden combs. The grinding stones are French bir. The mill was used for milling grain, both for local people and for export to Great Britain. At the end of the 19th century the mill began to decay due to the rise of the steam engine, the salinisation of the river channel to Blennerville, the opening of the Tralee Ship Canal in 1846 and the construction of the Fenit harbor in 1880. In 1981 the town of Tralee in the Urban District Council buy the mill and began the restoration of the mill in June 1984. The restored mill was officially opened in 1990 by Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Charles Haughey. Nowadays again wheat is ground.

The wooden windshaft has a one-ton stock housing cast.

The mill has wings of 18.29 meters (60 feet) with wooden breast rods.

The brake wheel and the crown wheel have a conical toothing with iron teeth.

The winding mechanism is operated outside the mill with a jug chain over a sprocket. The small transmission makes the crossing very slow, 180 degrees of cross takes about two hours.

The sack hoist has a conical wheel, which is driven under the crown wheel.

On the now empty intermediate floor is tentering of the main shaft of douglas fir with an iron construction, which used to have a motor. Also here are the tentering of the grinding couples and the great spur wheel.

There is also a visitor center with a craft center, model railways, art gallery, audio-visual presentation and restaurant.

Guided tours with a guide are given in the mill. The Blennerville Windmill is now the only commercial windmill in Ireland.

External links

This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia® - the free encyclopedia created and edited by its online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of Wikipedia® encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information, please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.

Copyright © 2003-2025 Farlex, Inc Disclaimer
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.