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45-725: The Ballincollig Royal Gunpowder Mills was one of three Royal gunpowder mills that manufactured gunpowder for the British Government . Located in Ballincollig , Cork city , Ireland , largely in what is now the Ballincollig Regional Park , 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

90-458: A blackened cinder that was once a hand, a foot, or other portions of one of the dead men. Those awful relics were scattered far and wide, some of them having been found on the brow of the hill on the opposite side of the river, nearly half a mile away from the scene of the catastrophe. In November 1810, Ballincollig gunpowder was associated with a major disaster in Cork city itself. At about 10 o'clock on

135-517: A friary on the Rochestown-Monkstown road, which was developed as a secondary school, and is now more commonly known as St. Francis College Rochestown . Also opened in the 19th century was Rochestown railway station , a station on the Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway line. Though closed in 1932, part of this line was developed into a walking route alongside Lough Mahon . In the 1920s, during

180-412: A hazardous substance through busy streets were evident. Multiple explosions occurred at the gunpowder mills, including: A more melancholy sight then this could not be imagined, surrounded as if it were relatives of the deceased, bewailing their fate with loud and incessant lamentations; but it was horrible in the extreme to see from time to time persons coming in, bringing in, wrapped in grass or cloth,

225-563: A reference in the Pipe Roll of Cloyne (1385) as "Rochestoun", and the Down Survey (1656) as "Rochtowne". Other documents record the manor and estate houses in the area, including Ronayne's Court, a fortified house which was built in 1624, and described as the "oldest house near the [River] Lee" prior to its demolition in the 20th century. In the 19th century, the Capuchin Order opened

270-442: A site for the gunpowder factory for several reasons: from a safety perspective, it was relatively remote at the time, far from any well-populated areas; on the other hand, it was close enough to Cork city to avail of its port to facilitate the importation of the raw materials required for the production of gunpowder. Furthermore, its location in a flat valley and its water-power potential influenced Leslie's choice of Balincollig as

315-503: A sum of IR£ 30,000. 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 barracks was constructed in 1810, and military escorts were arranged to accompany the wagons of powder to Cork Harbour. The site covered 435 acres (1.76 km), and

360-414: A temporary problem in the summer of 1886, when the mills were closed to the lack of water, there was a general distress in 1889 amongst the powder mill workers, but the coopers were particularly hard hit. "All the coopers are idle for a considerable period; several have gone to England… the remainder…are watching every chance that may turn up to give them employment… but they cannot succeed. The difficulties

405-464: 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 . Though the visitor centre closed in 2002, many of the mill buildings remain accessible in the public park. Prior to the formation of the Royal Gunpowder Mills, gunpowder production

450-424: Is very easily ignited by static electricity or lightning strikes , and most powder mills experienced occasional accidental explosions . Powder mill explosions typically destroyed an entire building and killed those working in the vicinity of the building. Explosions might throw flaming debris which could ignite other buildings. Successful mills were typically built as an arrangement of separate buildings to minimize

495-761: The American Powder Mills of Maynard, Massachusetts , the Austin Powder Company of Glenwillow, Ohio , and the Miami Powder Company of Goes Station, Ohio . Most smaller mills were unable to compete with this trade association, popularly known as the powder trust ; although regionally important mills including the California Powder Works of Santa Cruz, California , the Equitable Powder Company of East Alton, Illinois , and

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540-663: The Battle of Kilmallock , demolished the bridge and fortified several buildings in Rochestown, before retiring to defensive positions in Old Court Woods and Belmonte Hill. The fighting, which went on for three days, resulted in a National Army victory, and the eventual capture of Cork city. While a local Rochestown medical officer had set up a field hospital in his home, upwards of 7 Anti-Treaty and 9 Pro-Treaty soldiers were killed. Remaining Anti-Treaty prisoners were taken to Cork. One of

585-608: The Free State offensive of the Irish Civil War , there were clashes around Rochestown as Anti-Treaty irregulars attempted to hold the village from advancing Pro-Treaty National Army troops . This engagement, sometimes referred to as the "Battle of Rochestown", occurred as Emmet Dalton 's National Army troops landed in numbers (with armoured car and field artillery support) at Passage West port, and advanced towards Cork city. Anti-Treaty troops, including reinforcements fresh from

630-529: The Great Western Powder Works of Kings Mills, Ohio successfully transitioned to manufacture of smokeless powder cartridges . As smokeless powder and high explosives replaced gunpowder for most purposes, DuPont became the major manufacturer of United States gunpowder until discontinuing production in 1971. Subsequent production for use in pyrotechnics and antique firearms has been undertaken by smaller firms whose operations are often ended by

675-710: The Oriental Powder Company of Windham, Maine , and the Laflin Powder Company of Newburgh, New York . The Confederate Powderworks of Augusta, Georgia produced 6,000 tonnes of gunpowder from 1862 to 1865, but was dismantled after the war. The Laflin company merged into the Laflin & Rand Powder Company after the war, and with the other three large northern mills formed the United States Gunpowder Trade Association in 1872 including

720-624: The Cork coopers society to try to find work in the city were in vain. As a result of the decline in demand for coopering, coopers and their families started to emigrate to England in 1889. Some went to find work in England and Scotland. Others found work elsewhere in Ireland, at least temporarily. In 1886 the Cork Coopers were not pleased when they heard that Ballincollig coopers had found work in Limerick. When

765-457: The Harbour Board. It was agreed that great caution should be exercised while shipping the material and it was suggested that the shipping point be moved from the navigation wall down river to Rochestown . It was later suggested that new road to be constructed to transport the gunpowder from Ballincollig to Cork, and a plan to build a canal was also suggested. Ballincollig continued to grow into

810-617: The Postal Directory of Munster, was 1,130 (including the military). The powder at this time was largely blasting powder to meet the demands of the construction of new railways, mining and quarrying. The manufacture of gunpowder involved many skills. The trades mentioned in the board of ordnance list of 1815 included the following: carpenter , cooper, millwright , master mixer, refiners of brimstone ( sulphur ), charcoal , and saltpetre , press-house, corning house, glazing house, dusting house men, sawyer, shave cleaver. Coopering involved

855-562: The Powder Mills finally closed in June 1903, coopers still appealed to the coopers society to allow them to find work in Cork City , but the society refused. During the nineteenth century the manufacture of gunpowder at Ballincollig, and its transportation through Cork City, caused much concern and some fatal accidents. From the opening years of the century the hazards associated with transporting such

900-508: The Royal Gunpowder Mills Company, had commenced the manufacture and the weekly wage bill was almost 200 pounds. Before the end of the 1830s there were about 200 people employed at the mills and the annual production of gunpowder was in the region of 16,000 barrels. To reduce the danger of accidents the various departments were placed at some distance from each other ; materials were transported on small canals which eliminated

945-904: The United States. In 1802, the DuPont family started their industrial enterprises in the United States by building the Eleutherian Mills on the Brandywine Creek in Delaware . Four mills were manufacturing 69 percent of United States gunpowder when gunpowder production peaked during the American Civil War . They were the DuPont mill, the Hazard Powder Company of Hazardville, Connecticut ,

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990-483: The buildings were in dilapidated state. In early 1830s the mills were acquired by Sir John Tobin and Company of Liverpool for £15,000. Tobin and his partner Charles Horsfall transformed the mills into one of the most up to date industries in the country. Within a few months the complex was being renovated and workers were employed at clearing out the disused waterways. By mid-1835 at the Ballincollig mills, trading as

1035-417: The coopers experience lead to industrial trouble. In 1892, the coopers were in dispute with the management over the importation of powder barrels which meant that for the previous 3 months coopers were only able to earn twelve shillings a week. In 1886, the coopers were again in dispute over the introduction of new machinery which would cut their "already low wages" by 33 per cent. When they refused to accept

1080-543: The current has flowed much more quickly, and several people have drowned or almost drowned in the waters close to the weir. It has been proposed that the Office of Public Works may intervene in the restoration of the weir. Some of the site (at the Innishmore end) was used for community development. The rest of the site was developed into Ballincollig Regional Park. The canals were cleaned out and bridges built and greenery cleared off

1125-526: The end of their apprenticeship. Many of the Ballincollig coopers had sons in the trade with them. From the 1870s, the number of coopers in the Ballincollig Powder Mills declined. Some of this was due to the decline of production, but some was due to the use of metal canisters to hold powder as the mills changed their production to sporting powders. Some of the decline was also due to the importation of barrels from Royal Arsenal , Woolwich . After

1170-491: The evening of 3 November a violent explosion rocked the Brandy Lane area of the city , with three houses demolished and a number of others set on fire. Crowds of people converged on the area. A scene of chaos awaited them ; dismembered bodies, clothing, household furniture and ware, plus other debris, were strewn around. Parties were organised to comfort survivors, fight fires and carry out other tasks. Rescuers worked through

1215-565: The fiercest areas of fighting, Old Court Woods at Garryduff, is now a forested Coillte amenity. Public green space and leisure amenities in the area include trails in Old Court woods and the Lough Mahon walkway. The Catholic parish of Douglas and Rochestown is situated between Passage West and Douglas in County Cork . A Catholic church of this parish (St Patrick's Church) is close to

1260-412: The hazard of sparks from horses hooves. The quantities of gunpowder exported between 1836 and 1842 were : 1836 – 7,517 casks ; 1837 – 6,267 casks, 1838 – 9,835 casks ; 1839 – 16,045 casks ; 1840 – 13,914 casks ; 1841 – 16,489 casks ; 1842 – 17,738 casks. Having such quantities of gunpowder passing through the city gave cause for alarm and in June 1842 the matter was discussed by

1305-543: The ideal site. 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. For the first twenty years following their construction, the mills were the largest in Ireland, and second largest in Europe after Waltham Abbey. To ensure sufficient water supply, three existing River Lee channels were merged into one near

1350-468: The loss from any single building explosion. Buildings were separated by enough distance to minimize the risk of being damaged by an explosion in an adjacent building. Buildings were usually built of stone with one weak wooden wall and roof to direct the force and debris from an accidental explosion toward a river or an open field. Powder mills were originally powered by windmills , water mills or horse mills . Despite later availability of steam engines ,

1395-451: The making of barrels or casks of staves that were bound together by hoops of copper or wood. They were fitted with a head and bottom. The barrels were made of oak and had to be fitted extra tight so that dampness would not seep into the powder when it was stored. Copper nails were used. In the late 1830s, around 16,000 barrels of gunpowder were produced each year in Ballincollig. By 1856 there were about 50 coopers and apprentices employed in

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1440-407: The managers terms they went out on strike. Eventually, the manager agreed to take back all but three who were regarded as ringleaders, who should be suspended for some time at least as "an example". The company threatened the closure of the cooperage and the use of machine made casks. There was a general decline in coopering in Cork at the end of the last century so that efforts to get the permission of

1485-413: The middle of the nineteenth century, even while famine raged in other parts of the island , and the mills became one of the largest industrial establishments in the Cork area. At this time about 500 men and boys were employed and a range of skills were in use in the mills: coopering, mill-wrighting, carpentry as well as other specialist gunpowder making skills. The population of Ballincollig , in 1886, from

1530-465: The mills. Coopers had to undergo a five-year apprenticeship . The apprentices had to be at least fourteen years of age and to be able to read and write. Their training was governed by the rules of the Cork Coopers Society. They usually worked from 6am to 6pm in summer and from light to dark in winter. In 1887 all boys in the society in the second of their time had to pay 2d (1p) per week until

1575-474: The next. The power canal offered a supply of firefighting water, and the adjacent river was a relatively safe direction to focus explosion debris. Where water transport was impractical, intermediate products were often transported in wagons pulled by draft animals . The wagons were often built entirely of wood held together with wooden pegs, and draft animals were usually unshod to avoid sparks from steel shoes or nails. The 1810 census reported 208 powder mills in

1620-490: The night, and by morning 19 bodies had been pulled from the ruins. The deaths of three survivors in hospital brought the number of fatalities to 22. The cause of the tragedy was ascribed to the pilfering of gunpowder from the Ballincollig Mill. A worker had found a market for the powder in quarries near the city and each evening he brought small quantities to his home in Brandy Lane. It surmised that carelessness while drying

1665-532: The old Inniscarra graveyard which resulted in later flooding of the area. Following the 1798 Rebellion and the emerging threat from Napoleon , the British government deemed it vital to seek out a monopoly on gunpowder production in Ireland. In 1804, Leslie bought out Travers' share of the mills, and either in that same year or in 1805, he sold the mills on a lease of 999 years to the British Board of Ordnance for

1710-444: The older power sources did not require a fire to generate steam , and avoided the possibility of sparks which might ignite the gunpowder. Some 20th-century powder mills used electric power. Before the availability of safe electrical power, some of the most successful mills were built along rivers where water could be distributed through a power canal to individual buildings and intermediate products could be floated from one building to

1755-444: The persistent hazard of accidental explosions. Notable European mills include: Rochestown 51°52′37″N 8°23′24″W  /  51.877°N 8.39°W  / 51.877; -8.39 Rochestown is a primarily residential area in Cork City , Ireland. Originally a somewhat rural area in County Cork , housing developments in the 20th and 21st centuries have connected the area to Douglas and nearby suburbs. The area

1800-531: The powder with candles was the cause of the explosion. The mills closed in 1903 after the end of the Boer War and the site came to be owned by Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI). In 1974, Cork County Council bought the land from ICI. The weir, constructed by Leslie when the mills first opened, collapsed in December 2014. The site surrounding the weir had become a popular swimming location, but following its collapse

1845-552: The restored incorporating mill (pictured) was burnt down by vandals. 51°53′35″N 8°35′24″W  /  51.893°N 8.590°W  / 51.893; -8.590 Powder mill Crude grinding and mixing operations such as the Frankford Powder-Mill of Philadelphia were a cottage industry until the Industrial Revolution brought improved product quality through the following procedures: Gunpowder

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1890-463: The surviving buildings. The grounds are one of Ireland's largest industrial archaeology sites. Between 1984 and 1992, IR£ 500,000 was spent on the development of the area. With the aid of a European Community grant, the County Council opened a Heritage Centre in the incorporating mills area in 1993 and a working mill was reconstructed. However, in 2002, the centre closed on financial grounds. In 2022,

1935-578: Was centered in Dublin on tributaries to the Liffey , in particular the River Carmac where three gunpowder factories had been established in the late 18th century. The gunpowder mills were first established in Ballincollig in 1794, by Corkman Charles Henry Leslie alongside his silent partner John Travers, trading under the name of Leslie, Travers and Company, Royal Irish Gunpowder Mills . He chose Ballincollig as

1980-461: Was enclosed by a high limestone wall. After the Napoleonic Wars, the demand for gunpowder fell dramatically and the mills were closed in 1815. The Duke of Wellington ordered "The whole of the wooden part of the manufactory to be taken down (and) the foundations to be preserved". The machinery was oiled, painted and maintained. Some of the equipment was put up for auction in 1831 and soon many of

2025-481: Was formally incorporated into Cork City following the 2019 Cork boundary change on 31 May 2019, along with the surrounding areas of Douglas, Grange and Frankfield. The R610 trunk road passes through the area, linking Rochestown and other villages in lower Cork Harbour , to the city centre. Rochestown Road also links Douglas with the N40 South Ring Road . Among the earliest written mentions of Rochestown are

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