Forsythe’s Mills, off Ballinran Rd, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4JA

Forsythe’s Mills is a former mill complex located off Ballinran Road, Kilkeel, County Down. Constructed around 1860, the site reflects the increased flax cultivation spurred by the American Civil War in the 1860s.

The main building is a single-story structure situated on the west bank of the Kilkeel River, featuring a gabled corrugated metal roof and walls of squared granite rubble set in regular courses. Window openings are now infilled. A tall masonry chimney stack stands on the south-west corner. A one-story lean-to shed with rendered concrete block walls, originally housing a diesel engine, adjoins the east side. Opposite the wheel pit, a roofless, random rubble shed stands. The complex is significantly dilapidated.

A second, smaller mill stands on the west side of the yard. This is a one-story random rubble granite structure with a collapsed gabled slate roof and shuttered window openings along its east facade, and is heavily derelict and overgrown.

The mill was not depicted on the 1859 Ordnance Survey map. Records indicate it was built around 1860 and initially belonged to Samuel McMurray, featuring six stocks and a flax breaker, with an additional eight steam-powered stocks added by 1864. Water power ceased around 1882, followed by steam power by 1895. Robert Forsythe acquired the premises around 1899, though they remained unused until 1901, when a fire damaged parts of the mill. It returned to full operation, employing both water and steam power, by the time of the First World War. The second mill on the west side of the yard was likely constructed during this refurbishment and was powered by a 35 horsepower diesel engine after the Belfast & District Water Commissioners purchased the water rights. Steam power was discontinued in 1922. The date of final closure is uncertain. The site is noted for its industrial archaeological interest and is currently recorded as derelict.