Indicated — Talach

This 18th/19th century industrial site, shown as a T-shaped building on the OS 6-inch 1838 and 1921 OS 6-inch maps, is located in a tract of bog 3km N of Belmullet. It is built into the E-facing slope of a hill, with a stream c. 30m to E. The standing remains comprise an L-shaped, 3-room block (max. dim. 11.2m E-W; 10.6m N-S), but there is evidence of a ruined fourth room at E, giving the original T-shaped plan. The bar of the ‘T’ is aligned roughly E-W with the stem projecting to S. The W side of the structure is built against rising ground giving easy access to the roof, and to the furnace chimney which is ruined. The building is constructed of roughly coursed stone, with flat stone lintels over doorways and windows. The stone-built roofing of the W and S rooms is impressive: the technique involved the skilful corbelling of horizontally-set slabs, capped at the apex by a line of massive stone lintels. There are three doorways in the S room, one in the S wall opens to the exterior; the two others are internal doorways, opening respectively into the W room, and the now ruined E room. At the junction of the W and S rooms there is a square thick-walled chamber (int. dims. 2m N-S; 2m E-W) with evidence of burning on the inner wall face. This functioned as the furnace. A low lintelled opening connects it with the W chamber, and a large broken-out opening gives onto the S chamber. Adjacent to the latter opening, a small circular perforation (diam. c.10-15cm) is visible in one of the lintel slabs capping the ceiling of the S room -perhaps a socket for machinery gearing. In the W room, a low stone-built plinth (0.6m N-S; 1.5m E-W; H 0.35m) is set against the S wall, with two rough recesses in the wall face directly above it, probably a placement for machinery. There are two square windows in the N wall of the W room, and at the W end of the N wall, just above floor level, there is a small opening (c 15cm x 15cm) with a square cross-section which extends obliquely through the wall opening to the exterior. A trench or channel (W 1.45m) lies along the exterior of the N wall of the building, extending 28m to the W into a very large, crescent-shaped basin or depression which may have been utilised as a pond. The building is locally known as ‘the furnace’, and there are two local traditions attached to it. One suggests use as a kiln for the production of lime from seashells. The other is that it was used as an iron smelter, exploiting the local bogland as a source of bog-iron and fuel. Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of upload: 27 February 2017