Buildings at Risk: Race to stop Shackleton Mill grinding to a halt

Why is it of interest? Shackleton Mill, also known as Anna Liffey Mill, is a water-powered flour mill on the north bank of the River Liffey, near Lucan village. A striking, seven- storey stone building constructed in the early 1800s with later extensions, it was a working flour mill until 1998. Fingal County Council bought the mill and adjoining late Georgian house in 2002 with a view to showcasing industrial heritage with a visitors' centre and café/restaurant overlooking Delaney's weir. The mill and adjoining house are recorded on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage as buildings of regional significance for their architectural and technical merits. The gardens contain a ginkgo biloba tree.

What state of dereliction is it in? It's in pretty good condition, considering it has lain idle for the last 17 years. Fingal County Council is using some of the extensive interiors as a dry storage space for items of industrial heritage and architectural salvage. For instance, the council has acquired candle-making equipment from Rathborne, a company which dates back to the 15th century. A gate lodge at the entrance to the property is in poor state with a partially collapsed roof.

What repairs have been carried out? The council has repaired the roof and windows of the mill and house over the years. The water power used by the original mill now makes electricity which is fed into the national grid. A plan to set up a training scheme with Fás fell through when the State body was disbanded. Fingal County Council is in talks with the Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board to set up a social employment and training scheme to start converting the building into a museum. Industrial archaeologist Fred Hammond did a conservation management plan for the project in 2005.

Who is championing its cause? Kevin Halpenny, senior parks superintendent at Fingal County Council, is possibly Shackleton Mills' greatest champion within the local authority. He remains committed to the community and tourism potential of the site in spite of numerous setbacks. "There is evidence here of all the different types of milling since the 1820s and all the equipment is in working order," says Halpenny.

On a tour of the site, he shows us the large metal Miag flour rollers and the wooden-framed flour sifters (now covered in spiders’ webs and dust). Halpenny gives talks on the property during Heritage Week.

"Anna Liffey Mills is a physical manifestation of 200 years of architectural, technological, ecological and social development. Its historical development, physical attributes and environmental context make it of special significance to our understanding of the past," he says.

Norman Campion, from the Industrial Heritage Association of Ireland, says, “It’s the only surviving mill of its type in Ireland with good German machinery using the roller milling technology of the 1930s. It was going to be turned into apartments and Fingal County Council rescued it.”

What happens next? Well, that's the big question. If Fingal County Council gets its social employment and training scheme up and running, the project could develop further.

However, the lack of parking for coaches and cars near the site remains a major obstacle.

“Our site at Skerries Mills has car and coach parking,” says Halpenny. “This mill is strategically situated in the Liffey Valley and we’d like to attract more tourism to this side of the county. The building is large enough to take coach loads through it but we need to enlarge the site so that we can give public access to it.”

Photographer Tim Durham did a study of the site in October 2009. “The building seems caught in limbo between working mill and the intended museum; neither one thing nor the other. The quiet interior of the building is an accident at play, an unintended consequence of aspiration curtailed by financial austerity,” said Durham at the time.

Six years later, his comment remains timely.

Can you help? If you have information about an important building that has fallen into disrepair please email buildingsatrisk@irishtimes.com