Flour power: Welcome revival for Ireland’s mills
Cork National Flour Mills, pictured in the Cork City Reflections book by Kieran McCarthy and Daniel Breen. Two centuries ago, it is estimated that as many as 7,000 mills operated across the country. Today, the remains of just 660 survive — picturesque relics of what was once a thriving rural industry.
For an island once dotted with mills, Ireland’s relationship with flour has become strangely distant.
Two centuries ago, it is estimated that as many as 7,000 mills operated across the country. Today, the remains of just 660 survive — picturesque relics of what was once a thriving rural industry. In modern Ireland, in 2026, we are left with just one industrial-scale flour mill.
