Ballincollig Royal Gunpowder Mills
Ballincollig Royal Gunpowder Mills was one of three Royal gunpowder mills that manufactured gunpowder for the British Government. Located in Ballincollig near Cork city in Ireland, the powder mills were originally opened in 1794 as a private enterprise, before being taken over by the British Government during the Napoleonic Wars.
The mills returned for a time to private ownership in the mid-19th century, before closing permanently in 1903. In the late 20th century Cork County Council bought the mill grounds, developed a public park and opened a visitor centre by dePaor O'Neill. Though the visitor centre closed in 2002, many of the ruined mill buildings remain accessible in the public park.
The Royal Gunpowder Mills were first established in Ballincollig in 1794, by Corkman, Charles Henry Leslie. He chose Ballincollig as a site for the gunpowder factory because of its proximity to Cork city, and because of the flat valley and its water-power potential. Leslie built a weir to produce a head of water and a canal, one and a half miles long which was fed by the River Lee and which powered his two mills at the eastern end of the site.
The Gunpowder Mills were of great strategic importance being so near to Cork Harbour, and they attracted the attention of the British after the 1798 Rebellion. In 1804, Leslie sold the mills on a lease of 999 years to the British Board of Ordnance. To meet the demands of the British Army, during the Napoleonic Wars, the mill site was expanded tenfold and twelve new mills were added to the complex as well as new processing buildings and homes for the workers and senior officials. To improve security, a cavalry barracks was constructed in 1810 and military escorts would accompany the wagons of powder to Cork harbour. The whole area comprised 435 acres (1.76 km2) and was enclosed by a high limestone wall, some of which is still visible today.
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