Another old glass house with vines

Today we drove out to Foxford to meet with the owner of the Foxford Woolen Mills, Joe Queenan. What a delightful man, clearly passionate about preserving his little corner of history. The Woolen Mills were founded by a nun, Mother Agnes, in 1892. She was sent to help the impoverished people of the Mayo region. What followed was an incredible story of tenacity and ingenuity and a nun working with a Protestant from the North to build a mill, harvest the sheep wool, and harness the river to power the machinery. The mill employed hundreds of people and saved countless families from starvation. 

Little is known about the glass house attached to the Mill House or the vines within it. But Joe's curiosity put him in touch with a nun who had worked in the Mills through the 1960s. She is going to research the vine in the order's archives as the nuns noted everything major that was implemented in their endeavours and the planting of the vines would have been considered important. That's a new fact that we may be able to put to good use on this project. They built a convent across from the mills. 

 Joe Queenan

Queenan Surname Meaning

Irish (mainly counties Sligo and Roscommon): shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Cuineáin from a pet form of the personal name Cú meaning 'hound' or cano meaning 'wolf-cub'.

Joe gave us a tour of the buildings and the mill that had one machine running while we were there. It's a very impressive operation, but one that's increasingly difficult to attain profitability. The shop is a two-story building attached to the mill with an expansive café on the top floor. They sell homemade goods like preserves and chutneys, and bedlinens which they design and create with cotton fabrics from Portugal in 180 and 300 count. Interestingly, all their fitted sheets are 40 cm deep! They also sell lovely blankets, scarves, hats and jackets made with wool woven on-site. 

Joe brought us to the greenhouse which had lost a few panes of glass during Storm Éowyn but was otherwise in pretty good shape compared with the glass house at the convent in Westport. We are going to have to invest in hard hats if we continue this. 

We were surprised to find two vines and a cheeky robin who posed for photos but complained bitterly about our invasion of his space. We took cuttings of each vine separately and labelled them. They apparently both produce white grapes. Wish us luck. It was a very good day! And we bought a few things in the shop. 

Alex and Joe in the glass house. 

Looking in from the outside

Moldy dead grapes left behind

4 inches at the table height

6 inches at the base 

Width 5 inches at the table height

The pipes are impairing the vine

The base is substantial

Full length

Robin posing left

Robin posing risht

Robin singing on the vine

The west vine

Overview to the east

Overview to west, glass missing at the end

The east vine

Interesting wire-reinforced glass

Labelling the vines west and east

Our haul