The River, The Rock & The Ridge.

The Owenass River rises in the Slieve Blooms, on Capard Ridge, and passes through the Cathole falls and Barkmills before advancing through Mountmellick to join the River Barrow at the Borness. Both rivers have excellent reserves of wild brown trout, and game angling is a popular pursuit in the area. There is an enchanting river walk along the banks of the Owenass from Irishtown Bridge to Bridge Street. The pathway continues behind the Chapel to rejoin the river at Smiths Field.

Connolly Street, once known as Foundary Street, at one time housed the Hibernian Foundry. This foundry, which employed 40 people was established in 1834 by Welshmen Thomas and David Roberts. It produced steam engines, locomotives, machinery and also supplied girders for the London sewers. The factory remained in operation until 1909 and the original stone arch at the entrance remains to this day.

Conroys Distillery was situated on the present day site of St. Joseph’s Church. The annual production of whiskey peaked at 120,000 gallons between 1831 and 1838 but declined thereafter due to abstinence taxes and the famine. Production ceased in 1848.

In 1836 a branch of The Grand Canal was opened from Portarlington to Harbour Street, Mountmellick. The houses in Lord Edward Street were originally thatched, and were built for the staff of the Grand Canal Company in the 19th Century. The Harbour Masters house, adjacent to the canal stores is still occupied by the Lawlor family, who were harbour masters for many years. Activity on the canal greatly boosted trade in the town as passenger boats brought shoppers, and the merchant boats distributed Mountmellick wares throughout the country. Names of old lane ways, such as Salthouse Lane and Slaughter Lane, confirm the bustling economic activity of the time. Grand Lodge, Harbour Street, is the oldest remaining dwelling house in Mountmellick. Built in 1686 by Quaker John Pim, the Pim family remained resident until 1849.

The Rock, situated one mile east of Mountmellick, on the Dublin Road was best known for its limestone quarries and kiln.

Coal to heat the kiln was drawn by horse from Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny. Both lime and salt were broken down at The Rock, and the rock salt came from Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim via canal barges. The Rock School was originally built in 1827 by a Protestant landowner for the children on his estate. When the Penal Laws were repealed in 1831, the Rock School was among the first sanctioned national schools in Ireland.

Kilmainham, originally known as The Priory of Saint Maignead is situated one mile north of Mountmellick in the townsland of Brittas. The Priory was founded circa 606 AD and was destroyed by Viking invaders towards the end of the 8th Century. At this time, the Priory was linked to the Ivy Chapel (see below) by a Togher or wooden road.

In the 14th Century, an Abbey was founded on the site by the Knights of Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem. When the Order spread throughout Ireland, many of their abbeys were called Kilmainham after the headquarters of the Order in Dublin which still known as the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham. The Abbey was destroyed by Cromwellian armies circa 1667. The ruins are still visible today.

The Weavers Cottages of Davitt Road housed "cottage industry" in the heyday of textile production in Mountmellick. Most were destroyed in famine times.

The Ridge Road is an ancient road built on part of an esker (fluvial-glacial deposit) which was deposited 20,000 years ago. The esker is narrow at its base and rises steeply to the road. It runs from Mountmellick through Portlaoise extending to Timahoe in the south and back to Clonaslee in the West. The Ridge Road, which is still used, runs along the esker between Mountmellick and Portlaoise.

The Ivy Chapel, 1.5 miles from Mountmellick on the ridge road, has been a burial site since pre Christian times. The churchyard is located on a hillock and resembles a circular pagan burial moat. The site was linked with the Priory of St. Maignead in the 7th Century. The top and sides covered by flat tombstones in the existing graveyard are early Christian in design. The Chapel itself dates back to medieval times.

Its demise as a place of worship was brought about by the Wiliamite oppression of the 1600’s. The Ivy Chapel which was used for famine victims continued to be used as a graveyard for the local community until the mid 20th century.

The earliest existing tombstone marks the grave of "Theady Dunn" whom departed this life on the 24th October 1763 aged 70 years.