The stretch of the River Dodder that runs through this southside suburb once powered a working mill, and the ground beneath what became a well-known laundry facility carries a much older story than suds and steam.

According to historian Rob Goodbody, the site occupied by the former Dublin Laundry was in use as a mill at least as far back as the late seventeenth century. At that time it functioned as a tuck mill, a type of mill used in the finishing of woollen cloth, where water-powered hammers would beat the fabric to thicken and mat the fibres. The owner recorded at that period was Alderman William Fownes, a figure of some civic standing in Dublin. The fact that a tuck mill was operating here suggests the area had some connection to the textile trades at a time when Dublin's economy was still shaped heavily by cloth manufacture and finishing. Over the centuries that followed, the industrial use of the site shifted considerably, eventually giving way to the laundry operations that most people of a certain Dublin generation would recognise.

The site sits along the Dodder, a river that powered a surprising density of mills along its length as it runs from the Dublin Mountains down through Rathfarnham, Milltown, and Ballsbridge before reaching the sea. Visitors curious about the industrial archaeology of the area will find that little visible fabric of the original mill survives above ground, which makes the documentary record all the more important. The Milltown area is easily reached by bus from the city centre, and the riverside walk along the Dodder offers a sense of the water source that made such industries viable here in the first place. Those with a particular interest in early modern Dublin industry may find Goodbody's work on the subject a useful companion to any visit.