Newmills Corn and Flax Mills
Delve into Ulster’s industrial heritage
Site Closed
Admission
Free of charge
Newmills Corn and Flax Mills
Take a short trip out of Letterkenny for a first-hand look at the technology that powered the Industrial Revolution.
The oldest surviving building at Newmills is 400 years old and there have been mills at Newmills since the early nineteenth century. In Victorian times a flax mill lay at the core of the complex, providing crucial supplies to the linen industry, the backbone of Ulster’s economy at the time. A corn mill ground barley, oats and imported maize.
Newmills steadily expanded to include a public house, a scutcher’s cottage and a forge. By the early 1900s Newmills was also exporting food – the earliest supplies of butter, bacon and eggs for Sir Thomas Lipton’s nascent grocery empire in Glasgow came from there.
The waterwheel that drove the corn mill can still be seen in action. It is one of the largest working waterwheels in the country.
Highlights

Gallery
Opening Times
21 May – 30 September Daily 10:00 – 18:00
Last Admission: 45 minutes before closing
Average Length of Visit: 1 hour
Contact
Churchill Road
Letterkenny
Co. Donegal
F92 F205
074 912 5115
newmills@opw.ie
Facilities
- Car park
- Exhibition
- Toilets
- Wheelchair Accessible Toilet
Restrictions
- Uneven walkways
Nearby sites to visit
Newmills Corn and Flax Mills
Glebe House and Gallery
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Doe Castle
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Donegal Castle
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Social Guide
Download, print and read our social guide (PDF) about visiting Newmills Corn and Flax Mills. This will help first-time visitors, families and people with developmental and learning disabilities to prepare for a visit to Newmills Corn and Flax Mills.
Download the Social Guide