placenamesGorticashel Upper
Gort an Chaisil
Valuation research records more than one flax mill in Gorticashel Upper, while a relocated building carries the townland’s industrial history to Cultra.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Gort an Chaisil · Irish · main form · validated name
- Gorticashel Upper · English · main form
- Gorticastle Upper · English · main form · local name
Place & story
Two mills in the valuation record
Sebastian Graham’s research in historical valuation records identifies two flax-mill sites in Gorticashel Upper. One entry names Adam G. Loughlin in 1911, with mill and land held under A. R. G. Hamilton. Another records a mill and store associated with John McSwiggan and subsequently Patrick McSwiggin, whose holding was recorded in 1929. The separate sites show that references to a Gorticashel mill need not all concern one building. [2]
A mill moved to Cultra
The Mills Archive dates Gorticashel’s small water-powered flax mill to 1850 and records its dismantling and removal to the Ulster Folk Museum in the 1960s. The European Route of Industrial Heritage identifies its place of origin more precisely as Gorticashel Upper, County Tyrone. At Cultra, County Down, it became part of a collection illustrating linen production, alongside a weaver’s house and a bleach-green tower brought from other places. [3] [4]
Conserving a relocated working building
In an account of the museum’s conservation work, built-heritage manager Katherine McClean identifies Gorticashel Flax Mill as a building intended to return to the visitor journey. Repair schemes focused first on making its exterior secure and weatherproof, with future use and interpretation still to be considered. The account documents the continuing care required after relocation, extending the building’s history beyond its original industrial life in Tyrone. [5]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Tyrone
- Barony
- Strabane Upper
- Civil parish
- Bodoney Lower
- Coordinates
- 54.73681, -7.13051 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1414256 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Gorticashel Upper. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Landmarks, Mills and Features of County Tyrone: Gorticashel Upper valuation entries · Sebastian Graham / Original Rootsweb County Tyrone Community Site
- Gorticashel Flax Mill, archive 12968 · The Mills Archive Trust
- Ulster Folk Museum: textile manufacturing buildings · European Route of Industrial Heritage
- Heritage Building Conservation · Katherine McClean / Ulster Folk Museum
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2012-01-25. How this page was prepared.