Forge in Townparks West (coshmore and Coshbride By., Tallow Par.)

Situated on the floor of the W-E Bride river valley, c. 200m S of the river. Sir Richard Boyle, the first Earl of Cork, developed the iron industry at Tallow, which was known as Tullach an Iarainn (the hill of iron), in the early 17th century. A mill had been set up by 1608 and a report of 1622 says that there were two iron mills at Tallow (Power 1978, 33). The iron-works seem to have survived the disturbances of the 1640s, but by 1685 they were defunct according to Sir Richard Cox (Walton 1987, 28). One of the two mills was in the town (WA028-015003-), but a house and orchard marked on a Bateman map (NLI: ms. 6149, 21) dated 1717, is called 'The Forges', and is probably the second mill. It is close to the mill (WA028-024----), but it remains unlocated. Power, T. (1978) Richard Boyle’s ironworks in Co. Waterford. Part 2. Decies, No. 7, 30-36. Walton, J. (1987) Two descriptions of County Waterford in the 1680s. Decies, No. 35, 25-33. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 19 October 2011