Saltmills
Saltmills is the village in Ireland where my great-great-grandfather, John Merrin, lived before he emigrated to New South Wales in 1856.
Saltmills is a small village located in the south-west of County Wexford, close to the border with Waterford County. The village takes its name from the renowned Iron Age salt mills that existed nearby. The village of Saltmills was built across the stream from the 12th-century Tintern Abbey is a 10-minute walk from the village.
It has also been written that the village takes its name from the tidal mills built by the monks of Tintern Abbey. The monks were a farming order who produced large quantities of grain, harnessing the power of the tide to grind their grain into flour. Twice a day the rising waters of the tide would fill an enclosed pond and the water was directed through a narrow channel to turn a circular millstone in a mill building sitting above the water.
Saltmills is near Fethard-on-Sea, a village which today has a population of about 890. In the past, Fethard was a place of some importance. It was a site of Norman landings during the Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century and the remains of Norman-era earthworks and fortifications can be seen at Baginbun Bay. Today Fethard's main industries are fishing and tourism.
According to the record of his marriage, John's father, James Merrin, was a farmer. According to the Griffith Valuation of 1853 [3], James Merrin was a tenant at a property in Saltmills as follows:
County: Wexford
Barony: Shelburne
(Poor Law) Union: New Ross
(Catholic and Civil) Parish: Tintern (Fethard is an adjoining parish)
Diocese: Ferns
Townland: Saltmills
Place Name: Saltmills
Note that there was also a John Merrin living in Saltmills at this time and that he was married to Catherine Larkin. It is likely that John was James Merrin's brother and that the two brothers married two sisters by the name of Larkin.
Saltmills is a small village located in the south-west of County Wexford, close to the border with Waterford County. The village takes its name from the renowned Iron Age salt mills that existed nearby. The village of Saltmills was built across the stream from the 12th-century Tintern Abbey is a 10-minute walk from the village.
It has also been written that the village takes its name from the tidal mills built by the monks of Tintern Abbey. The monks were a farming order who produced large quantities of grain, harnessing the power of the tide to grind their grain into flour. Twice a day the rising waters of the tide would fill an enclosed pond and the water was directed through a narrow channel to turn a circular millstone in a mill building sitting above the water.
Saltmills is near Fethard-on-Sea, a village which today has a population of about 890. In the past, Fethard was a place of some importance. It was a site of Norman landings during the Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century and the remains of Norman-era earthworks and fortifications can be seen at Baginbun Bay. Today Fethard's main industries are fishing and tourism.
According to the record of his marriage, John's father, James Merrin, was a farmer. According to the Griffith Valuation of 1853 [3], James Merrin was a tenant at a property in Saltmills as follows:
County: Wexford
Barony: Shelburne
(Poor Law) Union: New Ross
(Catholic and Civil) Parish: Tintern (Fethard is an adjoining parish)
Diocese: Ferns
Townland: Saltmills
Place Name: Saltmills
Note that there was also a John Merrin living in Saltmills at this time and that he was married to Catherine Larkin. It is likely that John was James Merrin's brother and that the two brothers married two sisters by the name of Larkin.