"The most ancient grinding-machine of all, and most difficult and laborious to work, was the grain-rubber, about which sufficient information will be derived from the illustration. Several of these primitive grinding-machines may be seen in the National Museum: they are still used among primitive peoples all over the World."
So wrote P.W. Joyce in his Social History of Ancient Ireland (1903). The illustration shows a hollowed, oval-shaped rock, 16 inches long, with a smaller, oval-shaped stone resting in it. The labour-saving quern followed that.
"Querns were of various forms: sometimes the grinding stones were flat: sometimes the under surface was convex and the upper concave: sometimes the reverse - pot-shaped. In all cases, the upper stone worked on an axis or strong peg fixed in the lower one, and was turned round by one or two handles."
Further improvements came when water was harnessed. Mills which were turned by water were small or large according to need and to the water power available.
Under "Th'erll of Kildare is myllis" (The Earl of Kildare's mills) found in the Crown Surveys of Lands 1540-41 are listed the mills of Maynooth, Lucan, Rathmore, Rathangan, Kilcaa, Kilrush, Kildrought, Milltown, and the two horse mills in Kildare.
Milltown (Baile an Mhuilinn, the town of the mill) names 97 townlands in Ireland, 40 in the province of Leinster, 28 in Munster, 17 in Ulster, and seven in Connacht. The mill at Milltown, listed above among the Earl of Kildare's mills, is in the Co Kildare parish of Feighcullen, and the Co Kildare book of The Civil Survey (1654-58) informs: "There is one mill upon the lands of Mill(t)owne wch. in the yeare 1640 was worth six pounds per ann." The mill clearly predated 1582 as Milltown is listed in a fiant of that year, being among the lands granted to William Eustace.
The personal name Eustace, gaelicised Iustas, derives from the Greek, meaning "fruitful". From this was formed the surname Fitz Eustace, the name of one of the Anglo-Norman families of the Anglo-Norman invasion who became prominent in the Pale, and prominent in Irish history from the 12th century onwards.
In the Justiciary Rolls (1308-1314) we find "son of Eustace", while in The Calendar of Archbishop Alen's Register it is "fitz Eustace" in the years 1322 to 1373, and in 1326 it appeared as Eustace. In the Register of Wills and Inventories of the Diocese of Dublin 1457-1483 it was rendered Eustace. Mac Lysaght in his More Irish Families remarks that many persons of this name were prominent in the sphere of government as sheriffs, constables of castles and the like from the 12th century onwards.
Four Eustaces served as Lord Chancellor, the first being Sir Richard in the 15th century. Sir Roland Eustace, who died in 1454, had been Lord Chancellor and served as Lord Treasurer for 38 years. James Eustace, Third Viscount Baltinglass, with the Gaelic septs of Co Wicklow, signally defeated Lord Grey in 1580. The 1640 attainder's included about 20 Eustaces, mostly of Co Kildare, with a few on its eastern border in Cos Dublin and Wicklow.
Another Lord Chancellor was Maurice Eustace c 1590-1665, though always notably loyal to both Charles I and Charles II, escaped penalty for his public activities, and became Speaker of the House of Commons in 1639. The Rev John Chetwode Eustace (1750-1815) was one of the first professors in Maynooth College.
Taylor & Skinner's Maps of the Roads of Ireland (1778) shows Eustace residences at Castlemore and Kilnock in Co Carlow; Clontarf, in Co Dublin, and Strawberry Lodge, near Clane, Co Kildare.
Giving the Eustace births registered in 1865, 1866 and 1890 as 18, 18 and nine, respectively, MacLysaght informs that persons so named are now (1982) by no means common. Today's telephone directories contain 145 entries, evenly distributed except in the six counties of Northern Ireland and in areas 2 and 9 (Co Cork and a large part of Connacht).
We are unaware how many of these are "landed", but Owners of Land of One Acre and Upwards (1876) shows them with estates in several Leinster counties - Dublin, Kildare, Offaly, Laois, and Westmeath - and holdings of 995 and 483 acres in Cos Cork and Limerick. Capt Charles Eustace, London, England, had a total of almost 3,000 acres in Cos Kildare, Offaly and Westmeath. The largest Eustace holding at that time was the 2,087 acres at Castlemore, Co Carlow.