Sion Stables

14/05/2025

Don't forget to join us tomorrow (Thursday 15th) at 7.30pm in the HEC at the Stables for the last in our series of Heritage talks this season focusing on Village Regeneration.

We are delighted to have guest speakers Catherine Fegan and Andy Peters from Rathfriland Regeneration joining us who will be sharing the ideas and projects which have made such a very positive impact - in a village of comparable size to Sion Mills.

Everyone welcome

01/05/2025

It is said that it takes a whole village to rear a child. This, of course, is a tribute to the wholesomeness of life in a village community, where everyone knows everyone else and where people look out for each other. In such a context it should be relatively easy to enlist the support and co-operation of residents in any project that aims to enhance the physical appearance of the place which people call home, as well as the quality of life within its community.

However, such projects also need the motivation of leadership of, say, a community association or a heritage group with a keen appreciation of the history and architectural character of the village. One way or another, it can greatly enhance the character of a place when its residents have the opportunity to work together in improvement schemes. An organized scheme which enables people to work as a team in improving their local village can foster a deeper sense of belonging and a stronger sense of pride in their home place.

As far as the physical appearance of a village is concerned, a place which is potentially quite beautiful can come to be seen as the genuine article when a series of little things are carried out in a regular and organised manner : planting of flowers and shrubs; pruning of trees, regular cleaning of information panels signage, sculptures and lamp posts etc. ; sweeping and cleaning of footpaths. These and many other simple actions can play a vital role in the regeneration of a village.

As it happens, Village Regeneration is the subject of the next Heritage Talk to be hosted by Sion Mills Buildings Preservation Trust. The Talk will take place in the Heritage Education Centre at the Stables, Sion Mills on Thursday, 15th May at 7.30pm with guest speakers Catherine Fegan and Andy Peters from Rathfriland Regeneration.

We look forward to hearing about the ideas and projects which have made such a very positive impact in a village of comparable size to Sion Mills.

Everyone welcome 📣 please spread the word

16/04/2025

Don't forget our final talk in the series around the Great Famine is tomorrow.

Join George Irwin at the HEC Building at the stables, on Thursday 17th April 2025 at 7.30pm to find out more about Sion Mills during The Great Famine and to explore the exhibition.

Free for attend - everyone welcome!

📣 Please spread the word.

11/04/2025

09/04/2025

We are preparing for the final event in our project about the Great Famine (1845-52) with a Heritage Talk on Thursday, 17th April. This will bring to a close a stimulating and well-supported series of events and discussions, including an exhibition, visits by local schools, illustrated presentations and a bus trip to the Donegal Famine Heritage Centre in Dunfanaghy in North Donegal.

Many books and articles have been published and documentaries presented on television regarding the Great Famine. This is an event which continues to live on in folk memory as a crisis of huge significance in the history of the island of Ireland. More and more information comes to light each year as painstaking research into this massive subject reveals new evidence and new perspectives.

However, it is historically important for local communities to have an opportunity to learn about and discuss how the Great Famine affected the areas in which they live. In many instances there is a dearth of documentary evidence. But in Sion Mills and district, thanks largely to the voluminous and detailed Herdman Archive, we have plentiful material to draw upon regarding the harrowing years of the Famine.

There are graphic descriptions of the devastation caused by the almost total failure of the potato crop because of blight, and eye-witness accounts of the emotional experience of coming face to face with grinding poverty.

A significant feature of these Heritage Talks at Sion Mills Heritage Education Centre is that they generate open and interactive discussion among those who attend. It is expected that this very valuable feature of the forthcoming meeting will be enhanced in our treatment of the Great Famine because there is such a wide range of stories that have been passed on in the folk memory of the event. Furthermore, this will be an opportunity to add to our collective archive.

The Heritage Talk begins at 7.30 p.m. on 17th April in The Heritage Education Centre at The Stables, 120a Melmount Road, Sion Mills. Refreshments will be served.

Free for attend - everyone welcome 📣 Please spread the word.

08/04/2025

The Sion Mills Buildings Preservation Trust will be holding it's Annual General Meeting on Thursday 29th May at 7.30pm in the HEC at Sion Stables. If you wish to attend to attend please send us a message.

02/04/2025

Some fabulous photos from our archive of the Festival of Britain celebrations in Sion Mills in 1951

26/03/2025

Did you know that the mill was also used for Corn-milling?

The Herdmans set up a number of famine-relief efforts including establishing a village soup kitchen and went on to make an agreement with the Abercorn Estate to allow grinding in the mill.

On 16 June 1847, James Herdman recorded a landmark moment in the history of Sion Mills - as seen here in the mill records: "Started the rain mill... They have done well all night. The two pairs of stones are grinding at the rate of 25 tons in 24 hours, not including stoppages."

The Herdmans compassionate efforts during these terrible times helped keep thousands of people alive locally.

If you want to find out more about the effects of the Great Famine locally, don't forget about our exhibition on the Famine in the Heritage Education Centre at The Stables or join us at the next Heritage Talk: “Sion Mills and district during the Great Famine" on Thursday 17th April at 7.30 pm.

20/03/2025

📣 Last call for anyone who is interested in a visit to the County Donegal Famine Heritage Centre at Dunfanaghy on Saturday 22nd March, leaving Sion Mills at 12noon.

🚌 This is a fully funded visit as part of our special events Reflecting on The Great Famine and will certainly be enlightening.

📲 Please book your place by calling 07444 642 760

18/03/2025

Don't forget to join us at the HEC Building at Sion Stables tomorrow evening at 7.30pm where Dr Niamh Brennan will be joining us for a special heritage talk "Reflections on The Great Famine".

Plus our Famine Exhibition will also be on display.

Free of charge & everyone is welcome to join us.

15/03/2025

The Irish Famine 1845-52 easily comes to mind as a prime example of a national disaster which made such a deep impact on the national consciousness that it is central to an understanding of our country today. Many economic crises and famines had been experienced prior to the 1840’s but nothing compared with the damage caused by An Gorta Mór or the Great Famine in terms of the death toll and the sheer longevity of the blight disease which struck the Irish potato crop in 1845.
Historical records tell us that the first report of blight was on 6th September, 1845. This same disease hit America, Belgium, France , Germany and the Netherlands at the same time. But what made Ireland particularly vulnerable was the relatively great extent of its dependence on the potato – the staple food of forty percent of the population.

Ireland in the 1840’s was very much a rural economy with less than 20% of the population living in urban centres. The mass of tenant farmers who worked the land had no security of tenure and, with potatoes being the main crop, when the blight struck, families were impoverished by having to buy other types of food. And without the wherewithal to pay rent they could be evicted and left homeless. This is the kind of cruel, vicious circle which visited devastation upon millions of people.

The Blight struck again in 1846 with even more devastation and with government efforts by way of relief schemes, food distribution, soup kitchens and workhouses being inadequate to meet the huge scale of need, the death toll from starvation and disease kept rising, reaching a peak during the winter of 1847. During the period of the Great Famine a million people died of starvation and disease and just over a million emigrated.

To reflect on the experience of the Great Famine, Sion Mills Buildings preservation Trust have organized a series of events - pictured.

🚨 Spread the word, all events are free of charge. Get in contact asap to book your place for the trip to Co Donegal Famine Heritage Centre next Saturday, 22nd March 2025 (places reserved on a first come first served basis)