Lickbla House, Rathcreevagh, Co. Westmeath

Buildings of two and three storeys, some detached, some joined, cluster around a courtyard, their rubble limestone walls picked out with red brick around the windows and doors, a combination that reads as both practical and, in its way, handsome. The old mill race still traces its course to the east, and a double-arched bridge crosses the tailrace, the channel that carried water away after it had done its work turning the mill wheel.

The complex dates to around 1790, with an extension following in the 1840s, placing it squarely within the boom years of the Irish milling industry, when corn and flax processing offered a reliable route to rural prosperity. Flax, grown widely at the time for the linen trade, would have been processed here alongside grain, making this a dual-purpose operation rather than a single-crop concern. Its position immediately behind Lickbla House suggests a direct connection between the two: the mill very likely built by the same family that occupied the grander dwelling, industry and domesticity sitting side by side on the same holding. Square-headed window openings still show traces of their original diamond-pane cast-iron glazing, and segmental-headed carriage arches, wide enough for horse-drawn carts, have been fitted with replacement timber doors, though the openings themselves are original. Early lime render survives in patches on some of the limestone walling, a reminder that these rubble walls were once finished smoother than they now appear.

Approaching from the west, a visitor would pass through rubble limestone gate piers, built on a circular plan, fitted with wrought-iron double gates that still mark the entrance to the site. A limestone boundary wall runs along the road frontage to the northwest, and the grounds beyond are mature and set back, giving the complex a settled, established feel despite its disuse. The double-arched bridge over the tailrace, described as picturesque in its own right, is worth pausing at, since it marks the point where the working water of the mill rejoined the surrounding landscape after its industrial task was done.