All that remains of St Nathlash’s Church of Ireland church in Rockmills, North East County Cork, is a freestanding three-stage tower and spire. The dereliction of this church built in 1812 and demolished in 1889 gives a good idea of the decline of what was once a bustling village. The name of the village derives from a large mill that once operated on the banks of the River Funshion. The flour mills were once the scene of a large skirmish during one of the Irish Agrarian Organisation ‘The Whiteboys’ insurrections during the 18th century. The Whiteboys being a secret society that defended the interests of the poor tenant farmers against the landowning classes, the name derived from the smocks they wore to disguise themselves on raids. The mill was attacked in an attempt to capture the money kept there for the purchase of wheat. The society was defeated and seven lives were lost in the skirmish.
The history of Rockmills is sparse however the Dúchas Schools collection does mention the population in the 1800s as being between 500-600 people and most working in the mill. A story told by Michael Ahearne (75) to Philomena Fox of Scairt, Cill Dairbhe mentions the fate of the church, “There was a Church in the graveyard of Rockmills long ago. It was a Catholic Church and it was built by St Nicholas. The Protestants took it from the Catholics and they had it for some time. A large congregation used to attend the Sunday Service. Then the Protestants gave back the Church to the Catholics. A man named Captain Bowen got the Church knocked down and he removed the stones to build the church in Farrahy. He would have knocked down the steeple also but he was prevented by the parishioners. There was a copper salmon and Bell on the Steeple, and the salmon got caught and the storm blew it off the Steeple. Mr Oliver took the salmon to Dublin. The Bell was taken to Castletownroche”. Walking the ‘main street’ of Rockmills today its very hard to imagine the bustling and vibrant village it once must have been, a verse of a poem named The Glens of Sweet Rockmills written by a Mr Birmingham and transcribed by Philomena Fox once more is a fitting way to end this brief history,
“Rockmills it was a sporting spot as well you understand.
Such festive dance and jubilee was not through out the land,
At Clifford’s reel and jig house where oft times I did stray,
But like a midnight vision it now has passed away”
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